The benefit of obstacles

Sometimes it can feel like an incredibly laborious process to get to where you want to be!

Sometimes it just feels like too much effort.

There can be hurdles in the way, long periods of feeling stuck with neither forward nor backward movement. Very, very frustrating....however....

Today, while out on a walk I just happened to look up as a pine cone was falling from a tall branch en route to the forest floor, but instead of reaching its planned destination it settled onto a wide feathery branch about 8 feet from the ground.

I smiled as the line from the poem, "To A Mouse" by Robert Burns, sprung into my head,

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." 

Roughly translated it means, that our plans don't always go the way we'd hoped.

But maybe the stalling, the delays, the apparent obstructions are all necessary on the journey to our destination.

Maybe the hurdles give us more time to plan more clearly what we need and question if we're heading the right way.

Maybe having more time helps us think more creatively and stretches us in ways we didn't think were possible.

If you feel stuck try to see that the slowing down of your progress is not necessarily negative - instead take the opportunity to review where you're at, and feel what you could do differently at this point to help your forward momentum.

Maybe there's a much better route for you to take.

Maybe the conditions on the ground weren't quite right for the pine cone.

Maybe when the next big wind blows and the cone falls unobstructed to the forest floor the conditions will be perfect for the seeds to sow.

"Obstacles don't have to stop you.  If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.  Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." - Michael Jordan