On obstacles...............................

      All great victories, be they in politics, business, art, or seduction, involved resolving vexing problems with a potent cocktail of creativity, focus, and daring.  When you have a goal, obstacles are actually teaching you how to get where you want to go - carving you a path.  "The Things which hurt," Benjamin Franklin wrote, "instruct."
      Today, most of our obstacles are internal, not external.  Since World War II we have lived in some of the most prosperous times in history.  There are fewer armies to face, fewer fatal diseases and far more safety nets.  But the world still rarely does exactly what we want.
      Instead of opposing armies, we have internal tension.  We have professional frustration.  We have unmet expectations.  We have learned helplessness.  And we still have the same overwhelming emotions humans have always had:  grief, pain, and loss.
      Many of our problems come from having too much:  rapid technology disruption, junk food, traditions that tell us the way we're supposed to live our lives.  We're soft, entitled, and scared of conflict.  Great times are great softeners.  Abundance can be its own obstacle....

-Ryan Holiday, as excerpted from The Obstacle Is The Way:  The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph