“No one feels the same way all the time. Even if you are angry, depressed, crazy, afraid, or grieving, you’ll have moments when you are distracted. There are no enlightened people, no nice, bad, smart, neurotic, or stupid people, either — only people with more (or less) enlightened, nice, bad, smart, neurotic, or stupid moments.” Everyday Enlightenment
Each day. Each moment of our lives we have a choice. We either choose to express our best self or not.
The challenge is to take each little battle and win.
That’s life. That is what it is all about.
We can always choose our most powerful response to remain happy and in control even when everything around us is crazy or not the way we want.
That is enlightenment.
Let’s do that.
Let’s face it. You are going to run into obstacles. Sports are a perfect arena to deal with obstacles. Obstacles that you have to maneuver around constantly. Some might be bigger than you. Some might be faster. Some might be better. Some might be you. An obstacle could be in your head. It could be a referee. It could be an opponent. Obstacles could be that you simply cannot get the ball in the hoop.
These are all obstacles that go beyond the court or field. These obstacles prepare you for life and the bigger obstacles that you might face one day. Losing a job. Losing a loved one. Getting a pink slip. Broken marriage. The list goes on because that is what life does. It provides these moments where you have to make decisions to deal with the obstacle.
Mixed with the enlightenment of embracing these battles, the obstacles, the challenges of life is the ability to build immunity. Develop confidence in your ability to rise to the occasion so that you become IMMUNE to the obstacles. Not dwelling on what isn’t or what is missing, but what can work, will work, and reset the mind to deal with the obstacle.
Nietzsche says, “My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it . . . but to love it.”
Marcus Aurelius says, “The impediment to action advances the action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Ryan Holiday writes, “Whatever we face, we have a choice: Will we be blocked by obstacles, or will we advance through and over them? We might not be emperors, but the world is still constantly testing us. It asks: Are you worthy? Can you get past the things that inevitably fall in your way? Will you stand up and show us what you’re made of?”
If you want to take it a step further you can read Nassim Taleb Antifragile and begin to understand that we get stronger from obstacles and challenges, not just unbroken.
Get strong. Get tough. Earn your enlightenment. Find your way. Work through the obstacles to have your breakthrough moment.
It is right there for you to grab if you want it bad enough. Don’t just say it. Be about it and get it done.
