YOU - The only obstacle

lately, I have been struggling to understand why only a certain percentage of people who talk about wanting success actually achieve that success. It troubles me to see people who Years back were full of hope, ambition and high aspirations and right now there lives seem to be worse than it was years ago or stagnant. Some of these people were people I secretly wished that I had the ability to talk about the things I wanted to do with such passion. Thinking about these things made me reevaluate my own life. It made me reevaluate my successes and my failures. I realised that none of my successes came easy or were achieved without any obstacles, but inspire of the difficulties I encountered, I persevered, I studied hard, researched the solution to the obstacle, I prayed to God for direction on how to go about overcoming the obstacle, I sought help, advice and I pressed on towards the mark, I remained focused on achieving the goal, I kept moving on towards the prize because I believed in that goal enough or was passionate about it enough and I said to myself failing was not an option, I did not give up. What l learnt was I did not overcome the obstacles to my successes because it was easy for me to but I overcame them because I made a choice that I was going to achieve that success regardless of the many obstacles. I made up my mind to win. When I look at my failures, I realised that somewhere along the line, I decided, please I can't kill myself, if it's not working out, that's it - I give up. I refused to be bothered, I did not sit down or stay with the problem enough to be bothered to find a solution. I refused to seek for help or advice, I could not be bothered to try, I allowed myself to become demotivated, I lost sight of the prize and somehow I convinced myself that the goal either did not matter to me that much or I simply just gave up. It dawned on me that the common denominator between my successes and failures was me, myself and I. The difference between the two was how I handled the obstacles that came my way. Uhmmm, so I suddenly realised, the only thing or person that can ever stop me from achieving and goal is ME. My attitude to the problems or obstacles I encounter would determine if I end up winning or losing. Truth about life is that every road to success or great inventions is paved with many problems, failures and obstacles but we have these inventions today because of how the inventor chose to handle or see these obstacles. Obstacles, problems, failures along the way should really be seen as ladders that should propel us or help us get a step closer to our goal or achievements. I love the analogy of a road to somewhere you are driving to, all of a sudden during the course of your journey, you encounter bumps, flooded areas, pot holes and because of that you decide to turn back and not go...uhmmmmm, truth is most drivers find a way to manoeuvre past these potholes, bumps, flooded areas, diversions to get to their destination. The same should apply to our lives which is so precious to us. The truth is we would always and I mean always encounter problems, obstacles, failures and fallings but the only thing and the biggest obstacle that can stop you from achieving your dreams in life is how you choose to handle the obstacles you encounter. So basically only YOU can stop you from getting to your desired destination. It is time to make a choice not to allow YOU to stop you from achieving your goals for 2015. Let 2015 be the year where YOU make up your mind to stay focused and inspired against all odds. If it ever gets to a point where you feel overwhelmed and are on the brink of giving up, my advise seek help, reach out to people to help you, get a mentor and above all pray for God's wisdom and direction, He is our ever present help in time of need.