Life obstacles, those prevalent threats that ever so often cross our paths in life and bring us to the verge of giving up, because whatever new experience we might have gained is not worth the anxiety currently suffered. These obstacles are sometimes sudden and simple that we face in ordinary life like the Wifi not working when there is an essay deadline or the thunder and downpour of rain on a camping trip. It is hard to cope with the emotions that someone feels when one flunks an important test like the SAT, or when one fails to get a job, or when fails out of college. Of course many obstacles can turn out to be a punishment that forces one to choose another direction in life, but such adversities help us in the long term. In fact, they are a necessary impetus and a driving force of our lives to keep us motivated towards our ultimate goals.
        
        

Sometimes, life obstacles cannot be the key of our happiness. Perhaps it is true that when if someone consistently fails at something without getting any results, it might be counter-productive for that person to keep trying. When there are too many life obstacles at play that harshly erodes the self-esteem, one might forgo in hopes of better promises and incentives that can fulfill their self-actualization in life. It is a realistic option when there is no clear water nearby, to switch to alternatives so that we can be more content in the future. Hence, whether to give up or not depends on each situation and person, but we should always err to persisting.

        

However, even if one does feel like moving on from a worthless and hopeless option, it should always be the last resort and the priority is cutting through the suffering to achieve success. Suffering is a step into awakening into reality because no work comes without a cost and life is a test to see who can thrive even in the darkest era for the brightest future. The reason behind failure is the dearth of effort and diligence: one is moving into the right direction, but there is simply not enough passion and motivation from that individual for success. One needs a wake up call to help identify the weaknesses and exert even more effort in overcoming the exasperating challenge. Great success comes from great failures. Many life failures one might know about were all mistakes made by people who were, in reality, very close to success. 

        

Consider Nelson Mandela in the 20th century when he started fighting for the freedom of blacks and the equal treatment of racial minorities in South Africa, which was in the reign of the whites after the colonization of Britain. Although he faced challenges in life like being arrested for 27 years in prison to protest against human right abuses of blacks, instead of giving into the government to be released from prison, he begrudgingly remained in prison until he signed a contract to get out. Nelson Mandela continued campaigning for the freedom blacks deserve like rights to vote and when he finally became the president of South Africa, he abolished all the socially unjust laws and made progressive laws that got rid of the segregation in the country. Even though he faced imprisonment, it was his failures that drove him on to his greater goal of becoming the president of South Africa.. If Nelson Mandela gave up in prison, then it is possible that South Africa would still be under apartheid. Hence, obstacles are pivotal in motivating people to overcome the failures and to help us realize there are no shortcuts in life: in order to succeed you have to take the long route to success.

        

We need look no further at Helen Keller who has struggled through such debilitating disability of being deaf and blind. Even though her life obstacle was being blocked out from the rest of the world, she was the first deaf and blind woman to gain a bachelor degree. Pushing past her physical disabilities, Helen Keller quickly adapted to her life challenges and kept campaigning for disability rights and women’s suffrage rights. Despite how difficult it was for Helen to accept her malfunctions as a necessary impetus, instead of punishing her, it cultivated a stronger personality in Helen and made her more resilient. Obstacles helped Helen Keller be  a stronger person in the end who was even more passionate about inspiring those facing the same difficulties that they are not alone and that they can adapt to their own difficult circumstances to become the spectacular person they desire to be.

If you have failed 100 times, it’s not failure, but you just found 100 ways that won’t work towards your goal.  We should not be limited in estimating our own potential of what we can be and we should whenever possible try to overcome obstacles in life and regroup to find better ways of achieving our ultimate goals.