The sun was out again today, so during lunch, I went to the park to make sure I made the most of it.

As I sat down at a bench I looked up and realised that right where I was sitting a tree stood between me and the sun.

I mentioned this to the stranger sat next to me, and we agreed that the tree was right in the way of what was probably some of the last experiences of the summer sun.

The tree was just in the wrong place.

Then it dawned on me that it wasn’t the tree that was in the wrong location, it was me who was in the wrong place if I wanted the sun!

The tree was in the right place. Its only place. It had no choice.

For me to get what I wanted I needed to move, not the tree.

A daft story I know and many similar musings pass through my head of a day, but it did make me think about the amount of times in our lives that we invent obstacles to prevent us getting what, or where we want to in life.

Whether it’s the government stopping us, that we don’t have enough money, we are too tall or too short, too old or too young, etc,etc. It sometimes seems as though we are arguing with reality….reality being an adversary that we will always loose against.

Although these are all very real things, by accepting them as part of the game, we can then focus on how we can adjust ourselves in order to avoid these obstacles, or at least not letting them get in our way, rather than just wishing or hoping that they idealistically where not there!
How much is it really our unwillingness to move or to change our behaviours that keep us stuck?

Although many people’s behaviour would indicate that they believe the world should accommodate them, it doesn’t.

Despite what is right or wrong or what is deemed as fair, it is really irrelevant to how life plays out and by learning to observe what our underlying needs are in each situation we can learn to adjust ourselves to the world, not the other way round.

That way when we are faced with challenges and obstacles we do not become victims of them.

Here’s to moving to the next bench where the sun shines!