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What would life be without challenges, without hindrances, the things that hold us back, make us go out of our comfort zone, sweat it out to do those things which mean a lot to us. Simple, easy, dull, boring are a few words I could think of.

I guess there will never be a stage where there are no obstacles, no matter what you do. But how does one deal with them when they happen?

How to deal with obstacles

Identify what they are trying to tell you 

Most certainly they are not telling you that you are useless. One of the initial responses when something happens not in the expectation level is of denial, rejection, and most times we tend to take it personally, cos let us face it, it hurts and is not the most pleasant feeling. However that is not what it is trying to tell you. It is trying to tell you that there is a challenge and you need to find a way to address it.

How real are they 

This would perhaps be one of the most important questions. Obstacles are either real or imaginary. Sometimes a pin in your way can be an obstacle while a truck in your way is not. It is quite ironical isn’t it? Especially the way we define them, that too to ourselves. Identify how real the obstacles are, how real the solutions are and above all the very ways that you can find to tackle them

Are they that big? 

It is natural that when we are afraid of something, the fear clouds upon us and makes it seem very large and a sequential set of things happen that make the fear stronger and appear all the more real. In such a case, one of the best things to do is to look at the goal, look at achieving the goal, look at how you feel when you achieve that and why you want to achieve that. And now look at the challenge, maybe it will start appearing smaller. Please remember, the goal is bigger than the fear, if fear is taking the larger role, you know what you’re missing on

Reduce the size of the obstacle 

Obstacles are as big as we want them to be. They either can consume you or you can consume them. Every new art we take up, there are bound to be strong challenges in life, some more daunting than the other. I am not saying that we should deny the obstacles, acknowledge them, try to look at what exactly they are stopping you from. Not your goal for sure, they are just trying to test you how strong you believe in your goals.

Just for the fun of it, try reducing the size of the obstacle. Think of it as a small puny thing. How would you deal with it if it was a small bit? What would your state of mind be? What if you were completely sure that you were going to solve it. Try it with this mindset, you might be able to spot a difference and perhaps a solution as well with continued observance.

Appreciate the obstacles

It is always very easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves. That is the most common thing to do and probably we are right in doing that. But maybe for a few instances we can start thanking the obstacles cos they are offering us an opportunity to flex ourselves, in a different dimension we had never thought. The obstacles are trying to bring out a new structure in the personality which we had not seen before. Doesn’t that deserve a respect when it is doing so much for you?

Above all, remember, nothing is bigger than you. An obstacle can be a hurdle or a small road bump or a mountain, you can still move them. They say faith can move mountains, if just faith can do that, can’t you move simple obstacles? ;)