Policing the Road

"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, was a Protestant preacher and author (most notably of The Power of Positive Thinking) and a progenitor of the theory of "positive thinking".

Identifying what the obstacles are can be overwhelming. Often I find myself blaming everyone and anyone and everything and anything for something I don't do that I really want to accomplish. There's not enough time in the day. I have too much homework. There is this family function I have to go to. I work too many hours at a job I don't feel proud of. Traffic held me up. I spent the last hour and half on the phone consoling a friend in need. I have to go grocery shopping. I could go on....

I am trying to remove the "but" from my vocabulary: I would begin writing my memoir, but I have all this homework to do. I would go spend the day with my mom and sister, but I have to clean my house. I would go visit my family across the country, but I don't get paid time off from my job (and am afraid to fly!). That "but" is a very big obstacle.... Or so I thought.

I am beginning to think it isn't the "but." It is the fear behind the "but." Could I be letting fear debilitate my dreams? Even sometimes when I attempt to sit, mediate, and visualize my life exactly as I want it to be, those "buts" find their way in. I know, I am supposed to let them float through and then cleanse myself of them, but they are unwelcome, over-staying guests.

There are all these obstacles I may have created for myself - and even blamed on others. I keep picturing "Road Closed" signs and forgetting that I am the officer on detail. I get to choose and direct my own detour and alternative route. I need to accept my author-ity and create my path. I may not be able to plow through the "Road Closed" sign, but I also don't have to make a u-turn and head back the way I came.