What's Holding You Back?

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Since I have been going through physical therapy to get motion back into my toe, I have learned a few things.  The first thing I learned was that sometimes pain is necessary as a part of progress (see my post on pain).  Well, this week, I started doing more activities at my appointments that involve jumping, lunging, and other agility exercises.  This leads me to the next issue that I have learned to handle and that is overcoming obstacles.

Some of the most difficult things that we deal with in life are obstacles.  You know, things that get in the way of progress.  Sometimes they are physical barriers that block us from moving forward and then there are times where they are mental blockers.  In my case, my obstacle was both mental and physical.  See, once I had surgery, I was limited with my motion because of my physical condition.  In my brain, I became use to my condition and mentally trained myself to protect my foot and to not do anything to cause harm or re-injure it.  I mean that makes perfectly good sense right?  Anyone who has had any type of injury goes to great lengths to protect that body part.

However, physical conditions typically heal while leaving mental obstacles behind.  To me, I could not jump or apply force to my foot because it was still healing.  I felt a little discomfort at times, so clearly I was not ready, or so I thought.  My fear was that at this point I would still injure myself if I became too physical on my feet.  

This is why we have people around us to help us see the potential in ourselves that we cannot otherwise see. My PT knew what I was capable of doing at this point of my recovery.  The only issue was that I was not confident in my ability of what I could do.  My body was ready, but my mind needed a little push to get over the hill.  Needless to say, I lunged, jumped, moved, balanced, and did a host of things this past Monday, however, if I was not urged to break down the mental barrier I would have never overcame it.

We can be the biggest obstacles to our own movement forward.  It can seem like a daunting task to tear down the barriers that we have created, but if we never attempt to overcome then we will always be stuck where we are.  Do not let your thoughts of what you think you can do place limits in your life.  So, what's holding you back today and what's your plan for overcoming it?

Matthew 17:20  "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."  

Be Blessed,

Antoine E. Hall

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