What is in our way, is part of the way

Time and again life repeatedly seems to bring us moments that introduce us to some unseen limitation in our present level of self. For example, in stressful situations, we can keep neither our patience nor our anger under control. Too often, cynical comments spring from our mouth as our defensive way of responding to critical remarks from another person. The trepidation of betrayal colours all our relationships, limiting our capacity to give ourselves honestly and freely to those we could love.

But obstacles and tests are part of life’s journey. In school we are taught a lesson and thereafter given a test. The ironic role reversal as we mature is that we are first given a test which in turn teaches us the lesson. Challenges return repetitively to help us understand that it is imperative to avoid resisting what life is trying to tell us. These hard knocks and lessons are the only way by which we can grasp the real truth about our present level of self. The obstacle will repeat itself, albeit in different mannerisms and forms, up until the time we don’t learn the hard lesson it was meant to teach us. It is only then that we are granted salvation and allowed to move on to experience a higher test.

Trials and turmoil are necessary for evolution and progress. An easy life leads to complacence and dents the human spirit. We discover our strengths in the bosom of our struggles and our victories within our tribulations. Challenges offer us a platform to change, adapt, evolve and become better. Change is discomforting, hardships are distressing, but both are vital.

Over time you will come to realize that the challenges faced by you have translated into your greatest strengths. History is witness to the fact that the truly greatest have suffered an immeasurable amount of ordeals and sufferings, only to emerge stronger than ever before. Ironically it was those very obstacles that helped develop their strength of character, purpose and resolve.

The mark of people’s ignorance is their depth of their belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly. Avoid victimhood. Deplore privileges. Neither are gifts, rather cages to dampen your free spirit. Mountains can crush or raise you, depending on your choice of the journey and which side of the mountain you choose to stand on.

Learn from the oyster. It doesn’t get irritated with or fight off the grains of sand that enter its shell. Instead it focuses on encountering and using these irritants to its advantage to produce the most beautiful priceless pearl. There are numerous irritants and obstacles in everybody’s life ... .the important lesson here is to adapt, adopt and create a flawless pearl.

Adversity is not a detour... it is part of the path. Personally, I am supremely grateful for all the trials, tribulations and tests thrown at me all through life for they made me a wiser, stronger and better person.  I would never have experienced an enriching and purposeful life by trying to run away from or attempting to crush what I imagined stood in my way. I now fully understand that real limitless living results from a higher understanding that ‘what is in our way is part of the way’.