Recognize that an obstacle is only temporary.  Giving up is not an option if you want to succeed.  Giving in for a bit of time can work in your favor, if it's only temporary.  If giving in helps you recognize what the problem is, what it means you and how important it is to overcome, then by all means give in temporarily.  If you give up instead of giving in, then the obstacle may nag at you forever and that causes resistance.

Obstacles challenge you and how your react to them.  Devising a plan of attack before it becomes a huge problem will help you overcome the obstacle.  Of course life does throw out some scenarios that you just can't plan for, but you can stay one step ahead by knowing what you want your life to be and how you generally want to react in situations that seem to be out of your control.  Allowing yourself to recognize that it is just an obstacle also allows you to make different choices.

Some of the most common obstacles we experience throughout our lives are:

• Not recognizing that it is only temporary;
• Finding it hard to know where to begin;
• Having a plan when an obstacle throw you for a loop;
• Encouraging others to do their best, yet we don't take our own advice;
• Doing for everyone else and putting our lives on the back burner;
• Letting our dreams get buried because we make our lives so busy;
• Not pursuing what we love;
• Reacting to what life throws at us, instead of creating a proactive plan;
• Wasting time on stuff that really doesn't serve us;
• Not knowing how to plan and set goals to achieve our dreams;
• Giving up when life doesn't happen the way you think it should;
• Making the wrong choices;
• Not learning from our wrong choices and doing it over and over again.

Living your life the way you want is your choice.  You will always find a challenge and it may not be an easy one.  Sit down and think about the challenges you have already faced in your life and how you felt at the moment it was happening.  Didn't you think it was the worse thing in the world that could ever happen and you would never get over it?  You are here today reading this, so you must have gotten past it, maybe not over it and that is a whole different subject.  If you want to live a life of joy and abundance, you have to be joyful, think abundantly and prepare yourself when life isn't joyful.

Encourage yourself to step out of your comfort zone and visualize how you want to live your life and the lifestyle that you dream of.  Start taking small steps toward creating that life.  Create a plan and a backup plan for each step.  When you hit a roadblock, step back, think about what you need to do and then move past it.

When we are in the moment, we think its the worst it will ever be.  Sometimes it is and unfortunately it can always get worse before it gets better.  But it does get better and each time you prepare before the obstacle shows up, it gets easier too.  Looking back helps you realize that yes you did go through rough times, but you also have to pat yourself on the back because you did make it through.