Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Obstacles

Tags

Consistency, Goals, Henry Ford, Lessons, Obstacles, Persistence, puddles, road blocks, rocks, self-created

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

Henry Ford

Regardless of which path you take in life, you will run across rocks, puddles filled with mud, and other barriers. This is part of life.

When trying something new, most of the obstacles we face are built by us. We think something is too hard. We don’t think we’re good enough. We imagine all of these horrific things happening. In the end, when we’ve walked the path we’ve chosen, we realize that we created most of our problems. In fact, we created all of them.

How can you reframe all of it? Look at obstacles in a different way. Treat each obstacle as a lesson. Treat each obstacle as a stepping stone. Treat each obstacle as a means rather than an impediment. The moment you become detached from the obstacles you face, the less they will bother you.

Everything you face in life can be looked at in two ways. These obstacles can be looked at something that is done to us, or something that is done for us. Change “to” to “for” and the whole context of an obstacle or problem changes.

Deal with obstacles as they arise. Don’t create them in your mind. Trest each obstacle as something to learn from, rather than fret over. Keep your eyes on your goal. The obstacles will be meaningless, when you see the goal on the other side of them.

I hope each of you are progressing toward the goals you set this year. Keep going. You’ll get there. Just keep chipping away at them. If you keep chipping away, you’ll get to the finish line.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday

Tags

Accepting Reality, Complaining, Epictetus, Gratitude, Lessons, Patience, Stephen Covey

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/wisdom

Do you have trouble with complaining?

I used to, until I read a book by Stephen Covey, called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. In that book he discusses the fruitlessness of worrying or complaining about things that are out of our control. People complain about the weather, taxes, or any number of things that just happen and are out of their control.

There are lots of things we can do to mitigate challenges in our lives. We can take care of our health to avoid costly medical bills. We can manage our money, so we don’t miss payments and can plan for retirement. We can improve our skill set, so we are always viable in this fast-paced society.

Complaining about things that occur in our lives is really a waste of time. Things happen. One of my colleagues told me something a while back that was truly eye-opening. He said, “Remember, things happen for us, not to us.” What a great way to look at all the things that occur in our lives that just happen.

There are a few things I have come to believe in my life. First, everything is in its rightful place in the worlds of God. God is perfect. God doesn’t mess things up. There is a reason for everything. What is the reason? We are here to learn how to be better spiritually. Subsequently, what the human consciousness deems evil, bad, or unfortunate means nothing at the God-level.

Second, there is a lesson to be learned in every problem we face. If you agree with our purpose of existence—to learn, then each problem or situation we are placed in is an experience. These experiences are designed to teach us. They teach us what to do, what not to do, and how to be a more loving being. A being that knows how to give love and receive love.

Finally, everything happens for a reason. Many times, we don’t see the reason behind something that happens outside of us that affects our life. Maybe you needed to meet someone. Maybe you needed to go to a certain place. Maybe you needed an example of what not to do. The possibilities are endless and, in most cases, are a little bit outside our level of consciousness so that we “stretch” a little.

Sometimes we complain because we are helpless. We are unhappy with our current situation. Keep the above three things in mind when you begin singing the “woe is me” song. Instead, take a moment to be grateful for the situation you are in. There is a lesson to be learned. I have found when I take a moment to express gratitude for my life, regardless of my circumstances, life gets easier, lighter, happier.

I hope you enjoy your weekend! It’s great to be back from Phoenix and get back to work on the things I enjoy doing, particularly writing these daily postings for you, my readers. I hope each of you finds some wisdom in these words and they help you. That is the primary purpose of my blog. I’m not here to make money. I’m not here to be an affiliate for any company. I just want to spread the knowledge and wisdom I’ve gained throughout my life with the hope that perhaps my words will help someone else.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Lessons When Things Go Wrong

Tags

Blame-game, Fault-Finding, Lessons, Pay Attention, Relax, Slow Down

“When something appears to go wrong, look for the lesson in it for you instead of finding fault with anyone else or even yourself.”—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Things go wrong. We put the best plans in place. We have the right tools. We have the time allocated. Then, things go wrong.

So many variables. So many things to weigh and measure. So many things.

When things go wrong, it is easy to get upset, blame others, blame ourselves, or just blame lady luck. What if there was a lesson in every experience? Why waste time on emotions or play the “blame game”?

Have you ever run out of gas? You’re cruising along, everything is on track, and beep, beep, beep, the gas gauge begins blinking and the closest gas station is a long way away.

First reaction: I can’t believe my ___ forgot to fill up the tank. I told ___ to do it yesterday.

OR: I can’t believe I forgot to fill up the tank.

Lesson: Pay attention and slow down.

Have you ever had one of those days where you had one accident after another? I had one of these days a few months back. The first was breaking a coffee cup. It was totally accidental. I was reaching for something on the counter-top, I wasn’t paying attention, and CRACK! A little later that day I was walking up the stairs with my laundry and didn’t lift my foot up far enough crunching my toes into the step above—OUCH!!! The final one was when I dropped a letter on the floor, picked it up from under the table and misjudged the edge of the table. You guessed it—BAM! I smacked the back of my head on the bottom of the table as I was lifting my head. At that moment, I stopped. I waited. I reset. The lesson: Pay attention to what you are doing and slow down.

This is just one example. Sometimes the lessons are very simple. At other times, they are harder to figure out. The key is to really look. The lessons are there. Whatever your lesson is, it is waiting for you to discover it and learn from it. If you do, you’ll find that your life will run just a little smoother.

We all have crazy days, where our minds are spinning at all the things on our plate. These are the days to pay attention and slow down. What’s the added lesson here? Learn how to say no, plan your days ahead of time, and do not overfill your day with too many things. You really don’t need to get as much done in a day as you think, and the overwhelm you’re feeling is normally because you tried to wing it, forgot about planning anything, and avoided being mindful about your calendar.

I hope all of you are enjoying a well-deserved weekend with your family. I’m enjoying the wonderful weather today in Michigan, just got back from a great cardio routine and some time in the gym’s sauna, and about ready to begin another session of learning at Hillsdale.edu.

I wish you well today! Enjoy your time off, enjoy time with your loved ones and pets, and hope you take some time to really savor how great this life is.

Until next time…

Dave