Walls tell us where we should and should not be.  They tell insiders to come on in and outsiders to stay out. When we see walls that do not belong to us it becomes abundantly clear that it’s time to walk away.  Given what physical walls mean to us, it is no surprise that when we run into mental walls in our personal lives (career, relationships, health, emotion, etc) we do what we’ve been taught to do: turn around and go the other way.  We hit year 2 in our relationship and convince ourselves it’s time for the relationship to fail and so we break up.  We take the heavy breathing we are experiencing at mile 2 of our run and determine we cannot go any further and so we stop.  The mental walls we meet let us know that it’s time to back down.

But that’s not right.  We cannot transfer the same behavioral responses we have to physical walls to the mental walls we encounter.  First of all, although we may not want to lay claim to them, mental walls belong to us. They are ours.  No one else owns them but us.  Consequently, we make a choice about whether we allow our own mental walls to tell us to come through or stay out. Secondly, unlike physical walls, mental walls do not tell us where we should be (inside or outside), instead they are are simply a signpost of where we currently are.  Mental walls signal a position along our journey that is based on one’s perception of what is possible not what is actually attainable.

Those who choose to push through their mental walls will be met with great rewards.  On the other side of that wall there is renewed energy and a new sense of pride that comes with achieving something new in life.  There is excitement, inspiration and motivation attached to seeing what you are truly capable of.  And there is increased confidence and swagger born out of a realization that you can do more than you once imagined.

Neale Donald Walsch once said: “life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” So learn to break through those walls so you can begin living again. Don’t allow your own mental walls to keep you from achieving greatness.  Know that, once you push past that obstacle, there is new life waiting for you on your journey to the next signpost.