To Overcome your Obstacles, Resurrect your Inner Toddler

By Yaromil Fong-Olivares

Obstacles
Obstacles remind us that we are unbreakable.

Unless we are physically ill or the obstacle is in the form of a person in our lives, most obstacles exist in our psyches. Consequently only we have the power to transform them into learning experiences. Obstacles are temporary because they don’t truly exist until we allow them to exist. With determination and creativity any obstacle can be transformed into a marvelous opportunity. Some common examples of obstacles turned into opportunities are: writing a memoir, engaging in public service, and sharing our experiences with others through public speaking.

Flexibility
When confronted by an obstacle, our spirit is like a rubber band; it is meant to stretch but not to break.
When we experience a block in our lives, the lowest phase of the experience is also the most crucial. During this phase we feel like the only viable option is giving up and hope is gone. The experience of deep suffering and pain is what I like to call the “moment of elasticity.” Our inner rubber band is stretched widely forcing us to regain control. These feelings are unpleasant but they add complexity and layers to our lives. We experience compassion for ourselves and inevitably learn to feel compassion for others. It is through compassion that we are able to find our way to our resiliency and discover a comfortable but challenging state of elasticity. The experience gives us VIP access into our immense capacity to stretch our hearts, minds, and souls and we begin to feel reconnected with ourselves.

Immediately after the “moment of elasticity” we access our vulnerabilities, strengths, and inner fire. We are able to rebuild ourselves and realize the need to make adjustments to our lives we were unaware of or unwilling to make prior to experiencing this particular block.

Toddlers
Consider approaching obstacles as if you were a toddler learning to walk. It takes many attempts. It involves falling down. It involves getting up. It often requires a tremendous amount of creativity since parents are usually watching us, attempting to protect us from the fall. It involves a lot of external pressures and almost always disappointing others. Despite all these variables we learn to walk and eventually run.

When you feel paralyzed by an obstacle ask yourself where you would be if, as a toddler, you had given up on learning to walk. Succumbing to feelings of disinterest, fear, inadequacy or even rationalizing other priorities are alluring distractions from tackling obstacles. The list of excuses is endless but all excuses in our lives can be challenged by the toddler within us. Run on and if you are not ready to run start by occasionally getting on your feet and allowing yourself to fall. Great feelings accompany standing up after falling.