I just finished an interesting book on leadership skills you can learn from Ernest Shackleton's failed Antarctica expedition in the early 1900's. Everything went wrong on the trip and it took two full years for them to be rescued, but everyone survived. It may not sound like an interesting book to you, but this one line from the author was pretty significant-"Obstacles Exist To Be Overcome."
We all have obstacles, some big and some small. What if they really existed only for the purpose of them being overcome? A long time ago I saw someone on a stage put a chair down and explain that there are many ways of getting around the chair-to the right, to the left, underneath it, over it, or through it.
When my youngest daughter was very upset that she didn't get into Cornell University, her first choice, I wrote her a poem entitled, "Cornell Who?" I told her that it would be the best thing that ever happened to her. She would look back at the experience years from now and realize all the experiences that she wouldn't have had if she had gone to Cornell and all the people she wouldn't have met. I think that's the way she looks at it today.
So when you face an obstacle, focus on how you can overcome it, not on the obstacle. Maybe that is the only reason it exists?
<3
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