Life is full of obstacles, so I don’t think I’m the only person who is tired of being told there’s no such thing as an obstacle, that everything should be considered a challenge. If I hear that one more time myself, I may scream. The truth is life is indeed full of obstacles:
- Ask a 2-year-old, who can’t do what she wants to do because some giants prevent her at every turn.
- Ask the single mom who can’t go to school to learn job skills because there’s no transportation or child care available.
- Ask the young man confined to a wheelchair, who can’t negotiate the curbs in the neighborhood because the city never got around to sloping them at intersections.
Those are not challenges, my friends. Those are obstacles! People cannot simply pretend they are running hurdles races in high school and move on with their lives.
- Ask the 17-year-old who can’t pursue any of her career choices because the so-called guidance counselor at her high school says, “People like you are a burden on society. You’ll never qualify for higher education, so forget about such silliness.”
- Ask the wife whose abusive husband tells her she’s stupid and is only on earth to serve him and his needs.
After either one of those individuals has broken a woman’s spirit, it may be decades before she recovers her nerve to try anyway, and by then, half a lifetime has been wasted. Those few existing fairy godmothers are awfully busy people and just don’t get around to every individual, young and old, who so desperately needs them.
Ways around Obstacles
On the other hand, anyone or anything can look like a failure in the middle. Life is full of obstacles that defeat us at every turn. We need to find ways around them, under them, over them, or when all else fails, straight through them. And the bigger the hole we leave in our wake, the better. That’s the constructive “I’ll show them!” of final frustration.
Overcoming Enemies
It’s always better to use love to overcome enemies, but some people only respond to being metaphorically hit in the head with a 2″ x 4″ (obviously not referring to a modified SUV). I won’t name names but certain people come from backgrounds or cultures that only respect those who shove back! This means, for our own protection and that of our families, we sometimes need to caber toss those people who step in our face at every turn.
I’m not talking about breaking the law or assaulting someone, as shortsighted, hate-filled people too often do. However, each one of us must stand up, both for ourselves and our dreams. No one can just lie down in the road and wait to be run over again by the same steamroller, or spiked by the same zealot or his companions.
Finally, as Dr. Bertice Berry* believes, “Use obstacles to change yourself and it will change everyone who comes behind you. Don’t get caught in the past! Don’t let your abuse abuse other people. Don’t keep picking at scabs. Just move forward!”
Move forward with love, with great humor and with determination. Persistence and determination will get you from where you are to where you want to be, or very close to it.
* Bertice Berry, Ph.D is the author of Redemption Song (a novel with errors) and its correction memoir The Ties That Bind, as well as The Haunting of Hip Hop, among other enlightening works. She is a highly acclaimed motivational speaker and humorist. For more information, visit http://www.berticeberrynow.com/