You have thought that you are not supposed to have any adversity in your day to day life. You have thought that everything is supposed to go smoothly. You must have thought that, or why would you be fraught when adversity comes. You are dumbfounded when life strews obstacles in front of you. Therefore, unwelcome events frustrate you. Unwelcome events block your light. And you don't understand why you have them. You see them as intruders, invading forces, sent to thwart you.

It is not that you want to invite untoward events, but when they come, have the idea that it's all right. It's all right for all your desires not to be filled, or not to be filled now, how and when you want them. It's all right.

Obstacles may be in your path but they don't have to be in your way. They just are there. They may be there for reasons that have nothing to do with you. They may be there for no reason at all. In any case, they don't have to be your foe. You don't have to duel with them. Consider them unimportant rather than all-important. They are not personal vendettas.

What if you considered obstacles as signposts, telling you how many miles you have traveled. What if obstacles are like traffic cops, waving you forward? What if obstacles are speed bumps, there to help you slow down?

What if obstacles aren't so bad as you have thought. Would they then discourage you as they do? Obstacles are surmountable. You can surmount them. They don't have to cut you off, neither from joy nor your destination.

Rather than sniping at obstacles, blow kisses to them instead. Kindly help them to move over. They may not have wanted to be there any more than you wanted them. Be polite. Obstacles are innocent. They are as innocent as you.

You have heard that obstacles are really manifestations of you. That thought often defeats you, makes you feel powerless, makes you get into a loop of asking why and getting nowhere. Turn your thinking in another direction.

Consider that obstacles stir something within you that is ready to be stirred. Consider that the timing is perfect. Consider that obstacles indicate a spurt of growth within you. You need new shoes to fit into. What is so terrible about that? Why would you groan that you are growing? Why would you object to being taller? Would you complain about being promoted?

Consider obstacles like books you read. Once a second-grade primer was hard. Now you read books with a greater vocabulary and smaller print. Be glad.

Obstacles are not meant to defeat you. They are meant to be progress. They don't have to be problems. They certainly don't have to be problems that are bigger than you. Nothing is bigger than you! When will you accept that?

Now, all this that I am saying doesn't mean that you never can turn around. Sometimes it's perfectly fine not to go all the way through the forest. Sometimes It is better to turn around. But you do not always have to turn around either.

Whether you go forward or retreat, you cannot prevent life. Let life be an enabler for you, and you an enabler for it. Be an embellisher of life. Make a tapestry of it. Make it a beautiful brocade. Life does not have to be a straight line. It can curve. You are just around the bend.