Like a Vine Grow Around Your Obstacles

Obstacles are a part of any journey to success. It's how we respond to the obstacles that will determine the outcome. I truly believe there is a natural growth that comes from staying persistent.

Sometimes, We Make Our Own Obstacles

Me personally, I have been a living vine, that grows all over the place.(lol) Every time I have been trimmed or cut down, I grow back, but in massive quantities covering houses, clogging pipes, basically something spawned from a very bad Steven King movie.(lol) My biggest obstacle in my life has been myself ironically. Specifically, I was very gong-ho in the beginning of this journey. I wanted to make and share as much information as possible. But, over time, I failed to realize the importance of "organized sharing". I just wrote as many blog entries as I could, posted as many pictures as I could, and made videos when the inspiration hit me. In the end, I had inconsistency after inconsistency all over the place, with no real focus. In other words, I had a helpful, informative, inspiring, complicated mess on my hands,(lol) that to this day I'm still trying to clean up. Please bare with. It will always be a work in progress, but I will get better.

I also wasn't sharing anything about myself specifically in my blogs(at least not enough). I stayed "general" and didn't get personal that much, or even share examples of the people and situations in my life that could help people relate to the message I was trying to convey.

If you have a product or service that people can relate to, or can be used to solve a specific problem they are having, then you will get better results. I'm not beating myself up here though. I will say I had good results, but it could be better. With help, I have reached over 250,000 people across the world and it's growing, so I'm not mad or regretful. I sincerely do appreciate the support. Just glad I have the opportunity to "fine tune” things.

People Sometimes Are Obstacles

Of course, we all know that other people can be huge obstacles to overcome. It's a part of the journey of life for practically all of us, right? No matter who you are, there is probably a person you know that try to hinder your progress in life. Like a vine, we have to grow around these people. Whether it from family, friends, or co-workers, etc., we must learn to stay focused on the vision and ignore them to keep growing.

The focus is on ourselves and not on others. This doesn't mean block the world completely out all day everyday. Just take the alone time you need to put the"obstacles" in perspective and let the rest go.

Financial Problems

There seems to never be enough money to get what you need done sometimes to kick your dream into 2nd gear. It’s important to do everything you can, money or not, to move it forward.

Money is just a convenient man made invention to make it easy to have "common ground" in dealing with buying and selling as well as a "measure" for wealth. We have to remember that money is simply a tool to get what you use in your life. A tool, nothing more, just a tool. It's not the ONLY tool though, to get what you want. Does it make it easy to get what you want or need? Most of the time, sure. But many times it doesn't. We all know it can't buy love among other things.

Do I want a lot of money? YES!!!(lol) I'm not saying, "Being broke is great! I'm cool with struggling financially! You should try it! It's so liberating to be poor! I love this dollar store lifestyle!!" NO!(lol) Want as much as you feel you deserve and go for it, but in the process don't let the fear on not having any stop you either, is all I'm saying.

In the end, we need other PEOPLE to get things done usually. Not money. The money is a tool to draw the people to do what you need. In the end money does nothing for us. Understand you must focus on the goal. The money will be there if you act in faith before it comes.

Running Out of Steam

Sometimes, we don't run out of money at all, we just run out of steam. We try for a while and it doesn't work to level that we are satisfied with and we give up. I know I have done it.(lol) I have struggled with my product line for many years(hand painted gifts). Still do. I have had successes with it, but not consistently. Many of my friends on Facebook bought the product years ago which I appreciated. Many people in the community bought the product when I went business to business promoting it which I appreciate greatly. Many, many people purchased the product from Ebay years ago which was an awesome experience while it lasted. I know it's a great line, but I ran out of steam promoting the product, so I never got around to email advertising, follow up after the sale, etc. Because I wasn't getting the returns I "expected" over time, I decided to put it on the shelf for a while.

I took a break from posting the Motivational Music Monday Weekly Playlist for that matter for 6 months because I ran out of steam. I didn't realize I ran out of steam at first. There was a power outage that lasted a couple of days in my neighborhood. Once the power got restored, I decided to innocently take another day off. The innocent day off turned into 6 months.(lol) So I do understand plain old fashioned burn-out in the pursuit of goals.

Emotional Personal Issues

We all go through personal issues, that really can set us back a bit. A loss of a loved one, a lose of a job, relationship ending, etc. If you are going through a major change or loss in your life, don't panic. There is a natural healing process that takes place and you shouldn't rush it. On the other hand you don't want to just stop everything either. Some people can use the transition time to focus even more on themselves and their dreams as a distraction. As long as you are moving forward or growing, the Universe got your back. Analyze the situation and take the lessons learned as stepping stones.

The funny part is words that I write to help other people make their comebacks, was the lifeline I used for myself, to make my own comeback. I just smh and how life works. I didn’t want to take time off, but I needed to take time off. I really did. I have worked so religiously for so long(about 7-8 years to be roughly exact lol), a break was truly in order. It gave me an understanding and perspective I could have never gained had I just continued and continued without that break.

Is an Obstacle or Blessing?

But there is also another angle to this whole "obstacle" concept that I have been experiencing so far on my journey. Is an obstacle an obstacle? I've seen it over and over again in my life and in the life of others, that obstacles are not REALLY obstacles. Most seem to turn out to be blessings in disguise. Just another opportunity to keep the vine growing. It's all in how we internalize the situation and find meaning to it.

How many things can you recall in your life where what looked like a disaster, ended up a blessing? Getting fired, only to land a dream job. Getting dumped only to find your dream partner or find yourself. Getting rejected only to get accepted from an new friend. Whatever obstacle standing in your way, look at it as a part of the process of growth and keep growing.

Make Your Comeback

If you tried something in the past that didn't go as planned, or simply ready to start something new, I encourage you to go for it. If you are doing something now that you enjoy and truly believe in, keep going with it despite a little discouragement from others. Especially if it has been nagging you and nagging you. That "nag" in my opinion it’s the Universe callin'. Don't ignore it. Move on it. Forget having to know everything up front because it’s impossible to know everything. It can be more rewarding and adventurous this way as well, and what's life without a little adventure, right? The "alive" part of life is taking action in the mist uncertainty.