Overcoming Obstacles aka Shadow and Fear

Some obstacles aren’t really there – we just imagine them to be there. They are just shadow and fear – smoke and mirrors. Instead of walking on a path headed toward them, we stop because we believe them to be real. We see the shadow and stop dead in our tracks.  Turning back or turning left or right instead of touching or poking the obstacles to see if it’s real. We hesitate and question or run from it.

How many obstacles have you run from because you thought they were real? I once thought I couldn’t do anything else for a career but what I’d done for years. That shadow kept me small and limited. I’ve also believed the smoke that said I was broken and couldn’t be loved or wouldn’t be much in life. That smoke kept me blinded to the wonderful love I found inside myself and the life I now live (and LOVE).

Just like our eyes play tricks on us in the dark – our minds do the same thing turning shadow into monster and smoke into fear. Taking a tiny mad idea and turning it into a giant mountain of a road block. Causing us to turn away from our truth and run right into the fear fun house. This can happen over the tiniest thought – like I’m not an expert at anything else or I can’t figure this out.

When the shadows appear, one way to prove it to be smoke and mirrors – is shining the light of love on it.  Another way is to walk towards it, poke it, punch it. In other words, do the thing that brought up the shadow – even on a small scale. Take one small step toward it. Just like when you drive at night, the road ahead is only illuminated for a short distance – everything beyond can look like a boulder, dead end, or just plain dangerous. Yet you keep driving toward that darkness and what happens? No boulders, no dead ends, no danger. (Mind you I know there may be the occasional exception – you get my point here :))

You took a step towards the perceived obstacle – it disappeared. You learned through practice the road will appear because it was always there. The same thing happens when you move towards the obstacle in your mind – your truth is always there and will appear when you move towards it. Through practice it becomes natural to walk towards the shadow because it melts away and disappears.

Why do we stop when we see the same things in our minds? The only obstacles are our thoughts which can be smoke and mirror – shadow and fear.

What obstacles are holding you back? What small step toward that obstacle can you take?