Life is full of obstacles, so I don't think I'm the only person who is tired of being told there's no such thing as an obstacle, that everything should be considered a challenge. If I hear that one more time myself, I may scream. The truth is: life is indeed full of obstacles.

Just ask a 2-year-old, who can't do what she wants to do because some giants prevent her at every turn. Ask the single mom who can't go to school to learn job skills because there's no transportation or child care available. Ask the young man confined to a wheelchair, who can't negotiate the curbs in the neighborhood because the city never got around to sloping them at intersections. Those are not challenges, my friends; those are obstacles!

Ask the 17-year-old who can't pursue any of her career choices because the so-called guidance counselor at her high school says, "People like you are a burden on society. You'll never qualify for higher education, so forget about such silliness." Ask the wife whose abusive husband tells her she's stupid and is only on earth to serve him and his needs.

After either one of those individuals has broken a woman's spirit, it may be decades before she recovers her nerve to try anyway, and by then, half a lifetime has been wasted. Those few existing fairy godmothers are awfully busy people and just don't get around to everyone, young and old, who so desperately needs them.

On the other hand, anyone or anything can look like a failure in the middle. Life is full of obstacles that defeat us at every turn. We need to find ways around them, under them, over them, or, when all else fails, straight through them. And the bigger the hole we leave in our wake, probably the better. That