Incarnation in the Babylon Matrix almost always presents you with one or more thorns in your side. Some of the most common thorns include finances, health issues, dysfunctional relationships, loneliness, body image and career/job frustrations. You manage to remove one of these thorns and another pops up. It is very easy to let a thorn in your side become a glowing, red hot splinter in your mind that dominates your existence. When this happens you will tend to become either a passive victim or a desperate, obsessed Gollum, forever on the quest to regain a lost Precious. One of the most crucial life skills is the ability to tolerate a thorn or two in your side without freaking out, without letting it become a splinter in your mind obsessing your attention.

Of course it's great if you can get thorns out of your side, but that is not always possible. Racecar drivers are trained that if they are heading toward a wall, they shouldn't look at the wall, but at where they want to go. Stay focused on progressing along the open avenues of possibility. Put your energy into your circle of influence, what you can actually affect right now, not on the circle of concern — the things you can only worry about right now.

Hemingway's definition of heroism is "Grace under pressure." Learn to handle the thorns in your side with grace, and don't let them become splinters in your mind.