Overcoming An Immoveable Obstacle
Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, Columnist
What do you do when you discover you have an Immoveable Obstacle (IO) that impacts your thinking, direction, mood, and quality of life? This IO essentially has you trapped in a spiritual, mental, and emotional place that is not satisfying. You try to move, but the IO moves with you. You find yourself exhausted trying to climb over your IO. You wonder, “What did I do to deserve this?” The presence of your IO could be due to your own doing based on decisions you made or failed to make. Or it could be finding yourself on the wrong side of the vicissitudes of life table (some call this bad luck). Can we look at the following IO scenarios that may help someone reading this missive?
Person Number One is trapped in the past. Over time, her IO has grown and followed her into the present, blocking the prospects of a meaningful future. No matter how hard she tries not to focus on the past, IO obstructs her future. She knows she should not let this happen, but she no longer has the strength to fight.
Person Number Two is filled with anger because he feels he should not have to bear the weight caused by life decisions he did not make—more like issues he inherited. He gets so angry at times that he becomes a danger to himself. He lashes out at even well-meaning people who stand too close to him and his IO. It is as if he is trying to pummel his IO into submission, but the person he hurts most is himself.
Person Number Three is adept at hiding his IO, so much so he forgets that his path is blocked. In the best of times, it is possible to believe there is seemingly no I O in his way. Every time he moves freely and easily, something is said, recalled, or done that makes his IO reappear, and the “stinkin’ thinkin’ tape that was on pause in his head automatically replays the sad events of his life.
Person Number Four has given up all hope for change. She has submitted to the weight of her IO. Her vulnerability and a deepening round of IO-inspired ominous thoughts begin to scare her.
It is impossible to avoid an IO regardless of character (or the lack thereof), economic means (or the lack thereof), spirituality (or the lack thereof), marital status (or the lack thereof), education (or the lack thereof), or membership in any generational cohort. Ask yourself if there are any ways to neutralize your IO. You have cried, you have fought depression, and now you are drained. It is important to know that the battle is not overcoming what is in front of you—the real battle is what is going on inside of you. With all of this misery, if you feel you deserve your IO, the illogical logical conclusion is, why bother looking for something different?
Beloved, your mind can find reasons to justify your IO being a permanent fixture in your life, or your mind can help you make a liberating plan. Now hear this: there is a way around your IO. If you diligently search for it, you may find the path on your own, or you may need professional help locating it. Either way, please say and believe the overcoming power of these words to start you on your journey: IO, I owe it to myself to have contentment and peace of mind. That is why I am taking steps to move you out of my life.
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17: 20b-21
