"The difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is how you use them." - Unknown

It is not really what happens to us that matter but how we react to it. Do you agree with me? Someone once said, 10% of life is what happens to you and 90% the way you react to it.

Stumbling blocks are bound to come on our way to our destiny. But our ability to convert such stumbling blocks to stepping-stones will differentiate the successful from the unsuccessful. Whatever happens to us in our quest to attain success is not new, it has once happened to someone before, but what will differentiate you from others is your reaction to it. Someone was once raped and abused; someone once failed and someone was once disappointed, yet someone came out stronger and better.

Stumbling blocks come in form of problems, failures, trials, tribulations, disappointments, and setbacks. If these situations are not adequately managed, they tend to stand on our way to destiny and act as a garrison demarcating us from our success. On the other hand, if these circumstances are properly managed, they act as stepping-stones, which when stepped on will take us closer to our destiny.

Resolve today to turn all stumbling blocks to stepping-stones. While stumbling blocks are caterpillars, stepping-stones are pillars.

Napoleon Hill, author and writer, asserted in his best-selling book Think and grow rich that 'every adversity brings with it the seed of an equivalent advantage'. What the author is invariably saying is that there is an advantage in every adversity that comes our way. There is a stepping-stone in every stumbling block we experience. There is a gain in every pain we go through.

That you failed a test does not mean you should never attempt it again. In fact, failing the examination is not the exact failure, but your inability to try again. Stumbling blocks stop us from moving ahead, but the moment we turn them to stepping-stones, they take us closer to our destination.

After series of failures, disappointments and unfavourable situations, Ralph Naldo Emerson concluded that 'our greatest glory is not in failing, but in rising up every time we fail.' 'Failing' in this context is a stumbling block, but if we sit on the fact that we fell and refuse to rise again, it then remains a stumbling block. Conversely, if we are able to change our approach and reactions to such failures, it automatically becomes a stepping-stone.

Lots of events and situations find their ways into our lives each and every day, and one thing I have realised is each one of those situations can either be good or bad for us. In the coming days, months, and years, you will have the opportunity to interpret and react to many different people and situations. What then will guarantee that those opportunities are stepping-stones rather than stumbling blocks? I believe the outcome is dependent upon the choices we make. Will I be an optimist or a pessimist? Will I work to make this productive or destructive? Will I do what is right or will I do what is wrong? These are all choices we face. Often our decision is spur of the moment, yet that will determine whether we step forward or move backward.

Do you have a person or situation right now that could go either way? Make these choices today. Choose to be an optimist. Choose to make it productive. Choose to do what is right. As you do, you will find a stepping-stone to greatness rather than a stumbling block on your road to success.

When I came to live in England in 1996, I was shocked to discover that a fraudster had already stolen my birth certificate and used it to obtain a National Insurance number and credit cards and even opened a bank account. The person even got married in my name. Everywhere I went, I was told somebody was using my identity. At this point, the authorities could not identify the real 'Dayo Olomu.' I reached a stage where I wanted to give up and cry, raise the white flag of surrender and admit I couldn't go on. I reached such a depth I never knew existed. It was one of the greatest obstacles and setbacks I had to face as it nearly destroyed my goal; however, I was resolute not to loose focus. I returned to college and pursued my goals. Today the rest is history!

I see every setback as an opportunity for growth. When you loose, you learn and then go on to win next time.

Dayo Olomu is a UK-based Motivational Speaker, Writer, Business/Life Coach, Trainer, Media Entrepreneur and Competent Toastmaster. His core belief is that we are all endowed with seeds of greatness, and his mission is to help individuals and organisations achieve their full potentials. He is the author of best selling "4 Indispensable Strategies for Success" and the President of Croydon Communicators Toastmasters. Get his FREE monthly Rise to the Top ezine by sending a blank email to subscribe@dayoolomu.com or visit his website at: www.dayoolomu.com