This 5-Word Phrase Changed My Life For Good
“The Obstacle Is The Way”
The blame game started as far back as anything can start. In the Christian story, the blame game began with the first two people, Adam and Eve.
You know the story, Eve took the fruit from the forbidden tree, ate of it, and passed it to Adam, who also ate. When Adam was confronted by God, he blamed Eve, who blamed the serpent who had tempted her.
Since the first people, humans have been shirking responsibility and complaining about the hand they were dealt, and some very rightfully.
2020 has rekindled that mentality in our society from the beginning of it through the pandemic and with a toxic election right around the corner.
It’s easy to get down on ourselves and blame the year for all of these crappy circumstances.
It’s easy, but it’s also unhelpful.
In March, I got engaged to the love of my life. Less than a week later, our state was shut down and put into a lockdown quarantine and we couldn’t really celebrate. Since then, I have had two companies offer me full-time offers and then rescind them, loved ones have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and ALS, and I am unemployed.
There’s a lot to be upset about in the world of 2020.
But what’s the point?
Why feel anger at the world as if the world would notice? — Marcus Aurelius
Anger is not a productive emotion. Not that all emotions need to serve a greater purpose, but anger is cathartic, and then it should be gone. It should not be a lifestyle.
When things happen that are challenging and painful, we should mourn and keep moving. Jesus wept. And then he raised Lazarus from the dead.
The obstacle is the way
In 1914, there was an explosion in a factory owned by Thomas Edison. This factory held most of his recent experiments, and it went up in flames, engulfing his life’s work, and more than $23 Million in today’s dollars.
So Thomas told his 24-year old son, “Go get your mother and all her friends. They’ll never see a fire like this again.” And that’s what they did.
Thomas started rebuilding the next day, and less than a month later had a loan from his friend Henry Ford and got the plant up and running again.
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. — Marcus Aurelius
All throughout history, there are stories and examples of great people encountering great trials and hardships and moving through them, and I know the reason why.
There is no other option.
On the path to happiness and fulfillment, there will be obstacles and there will be trials, but that is the path. The obstacles become part of the path, and the path must shift.
The obstacle becomes the way. There is no other way.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. — James 1:2–4