Mowabites Worldwide

I am currently on page 81 of Ryan Holiday’s book, “The Obstacle is the Way”.

I read 10 pages a day, which allows me to attend to other responsibilities while updating my knowledge on various subjects. I would like to share some insights discovered so far from the book.

I selected the book for reading because the title was inviting, I was curious to find out how an obstacle could be the way. In the opening pages of the book, the author sounded like an automobile on gear one. Many of the things said sounded cliché.

However, as I kept reading, the author picked up momentum, accelerating into insightful, profound truths. I learnt the importance of being patient while reading a book from start to finish. Every author has his or her style of communicating and when we are patient, we learn.

Here are two quotes from Holiday’s book:

   °  “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition”.

• “Too many people think that great victories like Grant’s and Edison’s came from a flash of insight. That they cracked the problem with pure
  genius. In fact, it was the slow pressure, repeated from many different angles, the elimination of so many other more promising options, that
  slowly and surely churned the solution to the top of the pile”.

The second quote reminded me that great achievers are ordinary people like you and I, and that what separates them from other people is their resilience towards their objectives, willing to keep trying one alternative after another till the right one unlocks what they’ve been seeking.

I have come to realize that messages about hope and perseverance resonates with the struggling, or those who must overcome hurdles to get to their destination, those who must break from certain shackles to breathe the freedom they’ve always sought. When people live in comfort, either from family wealth or a secure job or business, such messages of “Never give up, be strong, you can make it, this obstacle is a test of your character,” ….only sound like the noise of an old radio in a corner of a room full of people busying about their activities, too busy to pay attention to what is being said.

A daunting reality of how the world could be so different for different individuals. Such scenarios force preachers of hope to reconsider their message when addressing people who are already living everything they’ve ever hoped for.

I sometimes wonder, if I reach a stage in life where many of my current problems have fallen off me like withered leaves, and I am living in real comfort, what will be my reception of books, music, movies, and any literature that encourage me to hope for better days?

Inasmuch as I look forward to financial independence and a better life, and while I am glad for the new me that the quest for a better life has forged, I always intend keeping a reminder on my desk of where I came from, the principles which got me to where I am, and a constant reminder to never settle, to keep pushing to see just which new talent or height of mastery is within reach. And I want my children to have the same mindset, no matter how wealthy they become.