The Physical Barrier

One of the problems we face in our lives is the issue of performance and outcome. We work to achieve particular results, and hopefully they come out a certain way. Here’s the thing, however. There is no guarantee for success, even with any applicable method that has worked successfully for others. Maybe training eighty hours a week for gymnastics will get one person into the olympics, but probably not another. The problem with our society is that we measure success by physical standards, and this limits our performance greatly. Why? Because failure is painful. Working really hard to achieve certain results and coming short of reaching those is a very frustrating experience. Unfortunately, we experience these failures every day.

Now, the physical barrier. That is what limits us. We need to focus on what we do, not what we are. We need to focus on what to try, and what to spend energy on, not the outcome. Maybe I’ll never be an olympic runner, but if I love it, I need to dedicate time and energy into that. If I lose, that’s no proof of whether I’m better or worse. It’s simply a matter of the physical. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are IN our bodies and they are OUR bodies, but that does not make them us. We can’t help what we’ve inherited genetically from our parents. We cannot help at times when we’ve inherited or acquired illnesses or conditions that stagger our physical results.
However, we can control whether or not we try. We can control our motives, our desires, our personal abilities to focus on doing instead of being.

For example, many of us try to help those we care about, and often it does not work. Maybe we’ll try to stop a friend from committing suicide, or convince a relative to seek help for depression, or convince a teenager to steer away from a self-destructive path. At times, it may be frustrating if we don’t succeed. But guess what? When we wish to improve ourselves, we should set goals on what to do, not to physically achieve. What your loved ones do with your efforts is totally up to them, not you, and isn’t in any way a measure of your personal success. So, tell yourself to LOVE MORE, reach out to others, contribute more charity emotionally and through your personal efforts. These goals are obtainable.

It must be difficult, then, to think of possibly putting fourth all these efforts and their going to absolutely no cause. I can guarantee this would be a rare, rare occasion indeed. When we believe in ourselves and focus on doing instead of being, the physical barrier is no longer and issue. Watching physical results takes our eyes off the target, and we’ll stop trying when the going gets tough. Endurance is the key to success, and endurance is much more possible for those who don’t feel bad about not having reached physical boundaries.
This is what I call the physical boundary. The measure of success by physical standards hinders our personal development greatly. If I try for good grades, but don’t get them, but I studied, my personal view of my failure will hinder me from becoming a greater scholar. If I focus simply on developing good study habits, actively engaging myself on the material covered and in class, my focusing on that will steer me in whatever direction I need to go rather than aiming for certain grades that might not be to the physical ability I inherited.
And I am well aware that I haven’t argued this point fully. It’s very difficult for me to express, and I don’t believe I’ve given this concept justice through this explanation. Maybe I’ll try and fix it later.