Obstacles

Okay people, I have a baby.  Let's get it out there for all of you to know.  And on top of that, I'm one of those crazy parents who talk about my baby all the time.  I put pictures of him everywhere on social media.  His name is Liam, and he's almost a year old, and I feel like I learn stuff from him every day.  

Yesterday, he was crawling around on the floor, but I was blocking him with my foot to see what he would do.  Instead of stopping and trying to get me to move my foot or going around, he just kept crawling harder until he got over my foot.  He never stopped, slowed down, or even paused to assess the situation.  He just crawled harder.  

That's when I realized that when we are babies we have this belief that is natural to us:  We can do anything if we just work at it hard enough because we're smart and powerful.  We might not be able to do it fast, but we'll do it in time. 

Wow.  I know at some point in my life I lost that belief and I had to be re-taught that I am powerful, smart, and able to solve problems around me.  Sometimes, I still need people to re-teach me again.

My son saw the obstacle not as an obstacle.  In fact, he didn't even seem to notice it.  Instead, it made him that much more focused and committed to his goal (Remote control on the floor! A very worthy goal, I must say).  

Another honest moment:  I had a HUGE setback in my life this summer.  I was a bit devastated, I'll let you know.  I saw this setback, not as an obstacle that I could overcome with time and working a bit harder, but as an all-out rejection of who I am.  Yeah - that's overkill, I know.  But isn't it like that sometimes?  Things that should be motivating us to put even more of ourselves into what we do, more creativity, more passion, more inspiring of those around us, actually devastate us and make us want to quit?  That's because we forgot to focus on the goal, not the obstacle.  

Some of you might be thinking that you'll try something new, but you're not sure how it will work out.  I want to be the first person to say "Welcome to the obstacles!"  Let's begin the re-learning process that we are able to overcome obstacles by focusing on what's ahead, and crawling all the harder over the obstacle in front of us.  

Let's go.  Life, come on.