The Obstacle is the Way

Perception #

“You will come across obstacles in life— fair and unfair. And you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure.”

• See challenges as a way to grow

Action #

“Our movements and decisions define us: We must be sure to act with deliberation, boldness, and persistence.”

• Even if we can adjust our perception to viewing all things as having value, there will still be obstacles we have to move.
• Holiday doesn’t suggest that when our way is blocked we divert our paths, rather that we look at the boulder blocking our path and try actions to supplant it. We try to chisel, climb, or move. What matters most is doing something.
• The boulder may not move, try, fail, and try again.
• Action will be a bumpy road, expect this moving forward.
• Things never move constantly forward at the same pace but we need to put in the energy to keep moving.

Will #

“Will is our internal power, which can never be affected by the outside world. It is our final trump card. If action is what we do when we still have some agency over our situation, the will is what we depend on when agency has all but disappeared.”

• Remember that what you plan and what will happen are never identical twins and that things will go wrong along the way.
• Mentally preparing to put out fires before they start to burn doesn’t attract things through negative thought, but prepares you for when it’s time to action.