"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny." -- unknown

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results - Albert Einstein

take the wheel and steer?
April 24, 2005 - 12:25 pm

it's like.. there are four types of problems/issues/obstacles people face:

1) the common, everyday, "issues" - nothing special about it and we overcome them every day. you probably don't need any help from anyone to do it. it's like.. i'm hungry, what do i do? get some food! pretty basic stuff.

2) problems - these are a bit more complex. you're more likely to ask for help, perhaps you've dealt with this a few times before, but it's far from a routine situation. this could also be called "i need some advice" type situations. buy a car is along this line.

3) obstacle - a bigger deal than a problem. you'll almost definetly seek help with this. at most, you've come across this thing once or twice before. for me, it was going back to grad school. which really amounted to lots of smaller issues and problems all wrapping up into one situation. the important point is that it is something you can overcome, but to do so, you have to really try. my biggest obstacle was, once i got accepted, where to live. freaking hard to find a place to live from 9 hours away. so.. i made a choice i wasn't too happy with, but it had to be done -- i lived on campus, back to dorm life. thankfully, my school had apartment like dorms, so it wasn't a big deal.

4) roadblocks - the worst sort. it's just like the name says -- the road is blocked and getting around it isn't an easy thing, if it was.. well, the road wouldn't be blocked would it? There'd just be an obstacle in the way or a problem. to get past the roadblock, advice and help of others will almost certainly have to be sought. even with help from others, it's a doubtful thing to get around. most people find a roadblock, puzzle about it for a bit and then change course -- only those who "truly" want past will sort out how to do it and very likely their solution will involve some sort of sacrifice or compromise that others just arn't willing to make.

the trick is that it can be easy for one sort of problem to seem like another. for an obstacle to seem like roadblock. it's all about what are you willing to do to get what you want. what matters and what doesn't. what you will compromise on and what you won't.

if you have a dream, how far and long will you chase it?

me, i don't have a dream. that's sort of my roadblock. i can't sort out how to decide what i really want to do. it's a puzzle, i can talk about for hours with others.. but it comes down to me somehow realizing what i want and going for it.

i can see other people in situations and they feel they are at a roadblock... they want to do something, but there's a hitch... this something they want to do is a dream-like thing for them. they know just what they want to do with their life. i envy that. i see the situation they are in and i see solutions. perhaps they arn't "good" options, but they would work and they'd enable the person to persue their dream.
it's easy for me to say hey, well.. just do this or that. sure it might suck for the short-term, but isn't your goal a long-term thing? don't like a short-term obstacle stop you from a long-term goal!

i get that for me it'd be that easy to do. heck, i'd love to have the dream-goal in mind. like i said, it's all about just how far will you go to get what you want?

will you take the wheel and steer?