Importance of being able to overcome obstacles

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Importance of being able to overcome obstacles

PostPosted on Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:50 pm

Parkour has movement as its foundation, but the core of the philosophy is the ability and determination to overcome any obstacle, to never give up. As part of training and learning to move effectively you learn that there will always be unexpected difficulties. You can improve the number of situation you can cope with through training your capabilities, but no matter how hard you train or how complete your training is, there will always be skills that you don’t have. To be truly able to cope with anything, you need to learn how to deal with things that are beyond your training, beyond your experience. In these situations your physical skills are irrelevant; it is your determination, your positive attitude, that will enable you to cope, to succeed.

Challenges occur almost as frequently in every day life as they do when moving. Life involves many challenges. The most important challenges any of us face are those that involve survival, and these tend to be fairly short-lived challenges where you either cope or you do not, rather than ones that require a lot of time and effort. Climbing up a cliff to avoid being caught by the waves beneath is very challenging, and there is no time to waste with thinking about whether or not you can do it, because there is no acceptable alternative. In these situations you need to evaluate the situation quickly and immediately set about the best course of action.

The challenges that are more common, and that also have long term effects, are those involving learning processes. Every person faces these challenges at some point, whether is it when they are trying to find employment, or come to terms with a tragedy, or when raising a family. These are all things that can prove very difficult and daunting, and for some insurmountably so. Those who are better able to keep their focus in the face of such challenges and approach each new challenge with a positive attitude find their path much easier than those who are afraid of difficulties, and get started along it sooner.

There are also many challenges that are both common and short lived. Writing a long and detailed explanation is challenging, even getting up in the morning can be a challenge, and even at this level there are benefits to succeeding and drawbacks to giving up. Getting out of bed sooner may result in making a needed phone call earlier and catching someone while they are in, or may give you more time to complete work to a better standard resulting in a pay rise. Accepting that you can overcome these challenges with a little willpower may not be of primary concern to most people, but these are still things that affect quality of life and even small things can have a profound impact on someone’s life.
~ Dave

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