Sometimes the strongest obstacle that blocks our path toward success is ourselves.
Founder and President Elena Paraskevas-Thadani shares her insights about the obstacles that block our path:
“I take boxing classes at my local gym. It’s good exercise. In light of the limited number of punching bags in the class, often two people share the same large bag, one person on each side. Ideally, you and your partner are relatively equally matched, which helps minimize the bag’s movement across the floor during class.
In a recent class, I was surprised at how many feet my bag moved across the floor. I thought my partner on the other side must be quite strong and so as the class progressed, I punched harder and harder. But instead of the bag moving forward, it moved backwards, until I was almost up against a wall. I peeked around the bag to ask my partner if they minded us moving the bag back a few feet. To my surprise, my partner had left the class some time ago. The bag moved backwards not because my (nonexistent) partner’s punches were so much stronger than mine, but because of the blow back from my own punches. I had literally backed myself in a corner, fighting against someone who didn’t exist.
Sometimes we push hard against a foe we can’t see but whom we believe to be there. Ultimately we may find we were only fighting against ourselves. And we need only to get out of our own way, to advance forward and succeed.