Two Approaches To Overcoming Obstacles–Both Are Right And Wrong

Should we quit or never give up?

Unjustified confidence can lead people to make fools of themselves. Equally noxious and not nearly as flashy is the practice of giving up because we lack all confidence.

Obstacles Everywhere

Obstacles exist in every path we take. Nature consists of accidents. Our human reality is a chaotic condensation of individual decisions and collective aspirations that changes too fast for anyone to make sense of it. If we roll a six-sided die six hundred times, we can expect the results to be proportional. There won’t be significant deviations: we cannot expect to roll a six every other roll. It just won’t happen. It is the way of probability. Similarly, we can expect obstacles in whatever we set to do.

Two Main Approaches

I find two main approaches to obstacles: either we turn away from them, or we can decide to overcome them. Neither of the two approaches is without fault. Sometimes, the most intelligent option is to let an obstacle have its way before we waste too much time and energy on a reward that isn’t worth it. Impossible problems fall into this category, too, for no amount of effort will solve them. Conversely, making a habit of avoiding difficulty will save us a lot of trouble but…