Five Things That Hold us Back in Life, Love, and the Afterlife

Other than outright bad luck and unforeseen circumstances, whenever we fail to reach our goals, it's a good bet that one of these five culprits had a hand in it -

1. Taking our eye off the ball: The easiest way to get sidetracked from our goals is to become distracted by a good time. A "good time" usually involves a pleasurable experience that seems to be more fun than our goal, and it always has to do with our 6 senses -- our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body pleasures, and mental escapades. The experience is usually short lived, however, and by the time we get back to business (if we do), precious time has been lost, and maybe even the goal itself!

2. Aggravation. This is a state of mind, and always counterproductive. It just gets in the way of clear insight and pure action. No matter what we become involved with, aggravation will sour our efforts. Anger is the basis of this impediment, and is brought on by selfish fear - we are afraid that we will become harmed or diminished in some way either physically, psychologically, or spiritually. We end up becoming angry not only with ourselves, but with everyone we perceive as stopping us from reaching our goal, and even angry with the goal itself. We burn up so much energy with our anger that not much is left to work on our goal! Instead, we work on the ones we think are inhibiting us, and unfortunately the goal becomes quickly forgotten.

3. Loss of motivation. We might have had great motivation in the beginning, but now it has vanished. If only we could keep that initial exuberance, nothing would get in our way! But the newness of the goal has worn off, and we just can't keep that fine edge anymore, and like water seeking its own level, we drain back into our sloth, torpor, and vegetative states. Half asleep, we dreamwalk through the days, and our important goal is now only a fuzzy memory.

4. Restlessness. Before we finish one thing, we become tired of it and are ready to begin another. This is a sign of immaturity, and a sign of impatience. Usually, the high we feel when first creating our initial goal has now diminished, and it is that high, that feeling of excitement that we crave rather than accomplishing the goal itself. If restlessness takes over our efforts, we will seldom accomplish anything, only going from project to project until we become tired of each one. This involves relationships as well. Restlessness is caused by expecting more out of life than life can offer.

5. Doubt. No matter what goal we set, before long it is the wrong goal for the doubter. The doubter goes through life halfway, never really finishing anything. This usually results from not considering the importance of his or her goals carefully before committing to them, which results in huge investments in time and energy made prematurely. We can doubt in many ways; we can doubt ourselves and our capacity to accomplish our goal; we can second-guess the relevance of the goal itself, and we can doubt our methods in attaining our goal. Doubt will always stop us dead in our tracks.

These five roadblocks are common experiences to all of us, so don't be surprised when they raise their ugly heads. Instead, be ready for them. If you can recognize them when they first appear, (and not after you've bought into them), there is a good chance of beating them. "Oh, here comes good old restlessness again! Hello old friend, I know all about you, and this time it's going to be a little different!" This is the attitude to take if you want to beat these obstacles.

Just be certain that your goals are carefully considered (be careful what you wish for), and then go for it! n