Obstacles

Obstacles are superficial. I believe obstacles are actually feelings and nothing more. If they were at all objective in nature, they would be possible to define and list out. Eventually, they would all be figured out, and soon there wouldn’t be any. But obstacles are subjective feelings.

A river is an obstacle to the dog, but not to the bird. He who does one thing with ease obviously struggles with another. So, we look at that which challenges us with discouragement. Rather than swim across a river, we would much rather walk until we find a bridge, no matter how long it might take. We envy the bird, even though there’s little logic for the desire to be that other creature. This envy comes from resentment of the opportunity before us that fear warns not to embrace… the same reason we must embrace it. If we ever want to declassify that river as an obstacle, and traverse it without wings, but with equal ease to the bird, we have to dismiss fear. 

Every obstacle confronts us pregnant with many babies of fear. Those are to be ignored. We have no obligation to these babies and they do nothing to fortify the obstacle, for it is still only a river, unchanged, we must resist our subjective feelings. The opportunities so far described are plenty. There’s opportunity to extinguish fear by refusing to recognize it, for its nature is that of a flame fueled only by attention. There’s opportunity to find a way through the obstacle rather than around it, thus weakening all its siblings we’re likely to meet in the future. This process of dismissing fear and welcoming discomfort is the only way to eventually adopt the mind of the bird. Going around will only breed more fear and envy.

And so the obstacle exists only in the mind. They do nothing and win nothing in actuality. The only thing they represent is a subjective misunderstanding and refusal. Reject this natural refusal and run toward the fear. Only when approached without caution will fear realize it does not belong. At that point it will issue its own dismissal ♥

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