Streets have traffic lights. Oceans have icebergs. Life has obstacles. It is as plain a truth as that!
No matter how young or old, rich or poor you are, the course of life is never totally smooth. Day after day, you and I are required to hop over the bumps, some not so rough, others dauntingly high.
I cannot express it better than writer Bette Howland: “For a long time it seemed to me that real life was about to begin, but there was always some obstacle in the way. Something had to be got through first, some unfinished business; time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
This thought is especially important if “things” in life keep getting to you and pull you down. When this happens, take comfort in numbers! Remind yourself that every creature on this planet is running the obstacle course of life, and that the smooth stretches always alternate with the humps and bumps.
Accepting the highs and lows that come your way makes you calmer, and better able to take positive action.
Have you heard the story of the two mice who fell into a pot of milk? One of them drowned, bemoaning his fate and seeing no way out. The other twirled furiously around, until the milk churned into cream and he could swim to the top and get out.
There are “mice” like these all around us—the billionaire who refused to give up when his first business venture failed. The woman who was hit by polio in childhood but went on to become the fastest runner in the world. They could because they knew that they had hit a major obstacle, but believed that this was not the end of the road for them. It was this positive attitude that powered them to overcome.
I begin my day with this empowering thought, and hope you do, too!
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