Appreciate the obstacles in our path.

About three weeks ago, up at the hill, some friends told me of an obstacle in the path of everyone. When I reached the spot where a huge fallen tree trunk blocked the route, I put one foot over it, sat momentarily on top before sliding down onto the other side.

As I reached the other side, a thought came to mind. Would it not be nice to leap over the tree trunk? Well, it was more than two years ago since the last time I vaulted over an obstacle more than four feet high. Nobody was around. It was as good a time as any to find out. If I could not make it, only Mother Nature was around to witness my embarrassment. So I clambered back over the trunk and moved a little distance away from it. I took a slow cautious run, put my hands onto the trunk, jumped with my two legs raised and side vaulted over the trunk. Wow! I did it. Well, why not turn it into an exercise. So I did. I vaulted the tree trunk ten times, each time clearing the obstacle with even greater confidence. It was not merely the confidence that brought me joy. It was the discovery at each successive vault that the body gets lighter with each jump. At the age of sixty-three years, that was a wonderful feeling, something no amount of money can buy.

I neither know nor understand how it came about. What I realised, only after the continuous vaulting, that I was so much lighter and springier in my steps. Well, it was such a long time ago that I felt this light. How it came about is beyond me. Besides that, I exercised my left arm, putting more weight on it as I side-vaulted to the right. In the process I had lifted my legs a little higher and that, if done every day should strengthen my abdominal muscles. So, it can be said that that obstacle presented by a big tree trunk benefitted me in more than one way.
Of course, I looked forward to more vaults over that wondrous trunk in the following days. Who knows what other benefits it could bring to my body and spirit?

And it was thinking of that tree trunk and the goodness it has bestowed me that I thought of the numerous obstacles that crop up from time to time in our lives. As I went through those that I could remember, I know they have helped improve me as I went along in life. First was the sickly child I was due to the sicknesses that seem to target my body at that young age. At Primary school level, I had some kind of arthritis which at one point caused me to be paralysed in the legs. (I have written about it in an earlier posting.) When I was ten years old sickness left me more dead than alive. According to my mother it was a miracle I survived the sickness. And due to my weakness and sicknesses such as those, I became interested in health, strength, nutrition and various aspects of sickness prevention. Thus, my healthy life is so good today because of those sicknesses that weakened me and in so doing awakened in me the awareness of the importance of good health.

However, it could have gone the other way too. It could have brought on more weaknesses from me. Yes, it could have resulted in me being a pampered child. You see, as a sick child I found the comforting concern from so many people. There were those who brought food and drinks. They would bring some kind of health beverage, made that in a cup and attended to me tenderly by spooning the drink into my mouth. So much attention was given me then. And for the first time, there was a teacher, my class-teacher came to visit me, gave me his attention and told me how much the other children missed me. He told me how much they wanted me to get well soon so that they could all see me. All that attention did get to me. For once in my life, I felt wanted and loved. Then, when I returned to school when my health improved, all those classmates came to welcome me back to school. I can still remember vividly the teacher’s smile at the sight of me. I basked in the attention everyone, especially the teacher, gave me. All my needs were always quickly attended to by the teacher. I began to feel like a special kid in class. It was ‘Ask and it shall be given.’
Fortunately, I somehow realised I was taking advantage of the situation. I do not fully remember how but I knew that I ought not to have people treat me like a weakling. With that realization I thought of how I could be stronger. Perhaps it was strong characters in films such as Hercules or Tarzan, but I certainly prefer to be like them than some kind of pampered weakling. I was lucky there for had I languished for too long in the concern of others for me I could not have learned the lessons my sickness taught me.

Then there was the financial position of my family as I grew up. We were certainly far from being well-to-do and there were many things out of my reach at certain times in my life. That taught me the importance of money management, part of which I learned from those great teachers, Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie. I learned the importance of money, the necessity to save and the need to manage money well.

The above obstacles in my life have put me in good stead for the rest of my life. Therefore, it is no surprise that I am grateful for the lessons they brought.
With the lessons learnt, I had done my very best to ensure my children are in the best possible health and understand financial management . Of course, nothing is fool-proof but parents ought to understand that it is better to have the children prepared and understand the consequences of their actions rather than fumble in confusion should they encounter situations that may bring poor health or financial distress. There are many ways to teach them and like I have always said, the world is always available as our audio-visual aids with true stories to show and teach children about such obstacles so as to awaken their senses. Such true life happenings are invaluable to everyone.

Thus, obstacles are important lessons in life. Being conscious of that fact can help us avail ourselves of their invaluable lessons and prevent us falling into such pot-holes.