Stepping stones to success

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- By Bruno Gideon

Try this little experiment. Think of an obstacle that lies in your path. Next, imagine that you won’t have to deal with it for five years. The obstacle immediately takes on a less threatening demeanor, doesn’t it? Now think back five years. Can you even remember the obstacles that you were facing at the time?

Press on. Obstacles are seldom the same size tomorrow,
as they are today.
– Robert H. Schuller

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.
– Frank A. Clark

Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them.
You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have.
– Norman Vincent Peale

If an obstacle lies in your path and you are able to see it for what it really is, you have already won. It’s as simple as that. Obstacles have only one purpose: to give us an opportunity to learn and then move on to the next one with greater wisdom. Of course, the question is how to see obstacles for what they really are. I have found that the trick is to slow yourself down. Don’t react right away. Sometimes a few deep breaths will suffice. Sometimes you may need to sleep on it or give it a few days’ reflection. Whatever the case, slowing down allows you to establish distance and that will allow the magic to happen – the magic in which obstacles become stepping stones to success.

Has something unpleasant just happened to you? Establish some distance and watch what happens.

- Bruno Gideon