Hitting the Wall: part 2

Yesterday, I talked about two kinds of barriers and two strategies for those barriers. Part of wisdom is staying the course on barriers that don't fall easily. The other part of wisdom is quitting when the job is impossible.

One warning: Quitting before impossible barriers is wise and right only when the goal is inconsequential. If the cause is worth dying for, we should be fully prepared to keep going no matter the outcome.

William Wilberforce spent 46 years fighting slavery in the British Empire before it was abolished. He heard the news 3 days before his death. Many others died before seeing that success.

There are some causes bigger than sight.

Hitting the Wall

I'm finding that there are two kinds of barriers.

• Walls that we can break by working harder or longer.

• Walls that will not come down no matter how hard or long we work.
  

Making it to the U.S. National Soccer Team included walls I could never get through no matter how hard or long I worked. But I could work through the barriers to becoming a good soccer player.

When you hit a wall you can do one of two things.

1) You can keep going until you get through
2) You can give up and go a different direction

Wisdom means discerning what kind of wall you're up against and responding appropriately.