Oh dear. The last straw landed. You veered off the road. You’re on your knees in the dirt, wondering how to get up and continue to carry the heavy load. The temptation to lean forward and topple onto your face, to give up altogether, looks pretty good right about now.
If you’re only in a ditch, don’t look around for a chasm.
You have options in a ditch. Shove off the heavy load, just for a few minutes. It’s not going anywhere. Have a sip of cool water. Wipe the sweat out of your eyes. Lean back and take in the stunning view of the sky. Breathe deeply without the burden of weight on your shoulders. Slow down.
Then consider your heavy load. Do some sorting. These straws here are so old they’re never going to provide anyone nourishment. Toss them blithely over your shoulder. Good riddance. And the load was ridiculously lopsided. Here, bundle this bit together neatly, and that bit, too, and the whole thing balances much more easily. Right, then. Off you go.
Focus on the stop, not the drop.
When something goes wrong and you feel exasperation and futility rise up, focus on the thing that went wrong. Don’t succumb to the allure of the deep drop that sucks everything else into the darkness with you. Just because the load was too heavy and you fell into a ditch doesn’t mean you’ll never get to the market, or your partner will kick you out of the cottage, or the villagers will shun you, or you’ll die poor. Fix the one thing. Adjust the load. Move on.
The ditch is a dip. The chasm is a choice.
{ PEP TALKS deliver a bracing blast of Grace }
Related reading: Pep Talk | Chin Up, Self-Care Basics, Herbal Pharmacy
Flickr photo: Carlsbad Flower Field March, by acaporn.
4 Comments
Marvelous! I absolutely agree — thanks for the reminder!
(love the pic — poppies in sunlight are one of my favorite photographic themes!)
Powerful! Thanks so much for this strong dollop of wisdom.
Thank you both.
Since this series started three weeks ago, I’ve been writing these Pep Talks by sitting myself down and giving myself the Pep Talk that I most need to hear.
I’m glad you find them useful, too.
Love this posting. Love the line “Fix the one thing. Adjust the load. Move on.”
3 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[…] reading: Pep Talk | Ditch the Chasm, Collage Vision Boards This was written by Grace Kerina. Posted on Tuesday, March 17, 2009, at […]
[…] reading: Pep Talk | Ditch the Chasm, Interview | Carrie McCarthy This was written by Grace Kerina. Posted on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, […]
[…] Launch a Trial-and-Error Extravaganza – Set a time frame and do absolutely everything you can think of. See how many of the ways in this list you can get started on. However, this is key: evaluate the results. What worked best? What sucked? Forget what failed. Zero in on all the things that worked and do further trial-and-error extravaganzas. This is an excellent way to strengthen falling-and-getting-back-up muscles and become super effective. {Pep Talk | Ditch the Chasm} […]