One Step at a Time

Obstacles.
We all have 'em, emotional, physical, psychological, even spiritual. Those bumps in the road, gaps in the manuscript, lacunae in our personal or relational or professional lifehistory that prevent us , hold us back in various ways from what we would do.
We deal with these in differing ways. We develop ways around the barrier. Or we ignore the problem and live as though it weren't there. We might even make it someone else's responsibility, blaming them for what we are not able to do.
Creative types make the obstacle a matter of no significance or value, the old "sour grapes" approach. And others make such obstacles into a personal cause, advocating, for instance, for handicapped accessibility in public places or working for a group involved in social changes for a particular issue.
But some obstacles are so mundane as to seem trivial. For instance, my physical handicap makes stairs an obstacle that others would think nothing of, but which I have to face with difficulty and some pain. When someone parks in a "handicapped" parking spot without a "handicapped" tag- well, they are running into the store for just a minute, so what's the harm? But it means someone like me must park that much farther away and walk- with great difficulty- that distance.
Of course, there are people who have disability status through Social Security, and they may or may not be the driver with the "handicapped." tags. Getting SSI is not easy, despite the disgruntled few who seem  to believe that it is reserved only for low-income, lazy,  mentally-ill alcoholics. Even there, the disability may not be as immediately obvious, and many on SSI would prefer they weren't.
There was a time in my life when I could bound up a flight of stairs, two at a time. Now I go slowly one at a time, if I go at all. But not all obstacles we face are physical. When we have a barrier that keeps us from caring for others, or when we have handicaps that keep from seeing the human needs around us, that can be as disabling in its own way as anything physical.