"When flowing water meets with obstacles on its path, a blockage in it's journey, it pauses. It increases in volume and strength, filling up in front of the obstacle and eventually spilling past it." -I Ching

What a great quote! If we could just take a lesson from the wisdom of the water... When we encounter obstacles, doesn't it may sense to increase our strength to endure what is to come? Gather our strength so we can "spill past" the obstacles in our path. Obstacles are essential. They're guides, showing us when we're headed in the wrong direction... They also show us what we're made of. They show us where we need to grow and give us the opportunity to shine by overcoming them. Think about it. If we never had obstacles, life would get kind of boring, don't you think? Sometimes we need something to shake it up. If we never had obstacles, we wouldn't have the opportunity to grow and become the best we can be. And I don't know about you, but I'm always striving to be my best. I don't always succeed, but I always work toward being the best version of me that I can be. Looking at it a Little Differently... When you get one of those obstacles in your path, what do you think about it? Do you curse it? Do you gripe about it? Invite yourself to a pity party? Or do you step back and evaluate it? Where's the lesson? What's the gift in the situation? (future gift if you can't see it now - and usually you can't) When my van broke down a few days before Christmas and I didn't have money to get the kids what I wanted or get my brothers, etc... gifts, I freaked out at first. "I'm a terrible mother!" "I'm a failure!" "I can't do anything right!" "Why does this kind of thing always happen to me?" (ok, so I had a brief pity party... But the important thing here is it was BRIEF.) I then started to look at the gifts I already had in my life. I wasn't yet ready to find the gift of this situation. I was still in "party mode" so to speak... I have wonderful kids. I have a good job I love. I have great brothers. I'm living in a loving home with great friends. I've found a home with my new church. I have some awesome friends. Ahhhhhh, the vibration had risen tremendously. Pity party mode was long gone... Now to look at the blessing in the obstacle. The fact: My van broke down. It happens. The made up "reality" I had spun for myself: It was going to ruin Christmas and I was a failure. Did I personally do anything to make the van break down? NO Did I feel that way any other time it broke down? NO So why did I feel that way this time? The pressure of buying things for loved ones to give on a specific day because that's just what you do. Had I lost the true meaning of Christmas? Had my family lost the true meaning? Had we really (I mean, really) had it as we should have? Hmmmmmmmmmmm, made me wonder... So, therein lies the gift: The true meaning of Christmas. And that's where I went with it. I ran with the idea and worked it from all angles. I was able to move my car payment so I could use that money to pay for the car, so that worked out. I had previously bought a few things and that's what my kids got. Those few things and a great lesson. Ok, so I will get them more with my next paycheck. (It's hard to watch your child see her best friend get the two things she had asked for but didn't get.) The point is... We had a wonderful Christmas. One we'll all remember as one of the best ever... You know why? Because we remembered the true meaning of Christmas.

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