Life is strange. For weeks I just “knew” that I had to take a certain route because it was what I wanted.

The other day I realized it really wasn’t what I “wanted”. It simply seemed less formidable than the alternative.

One way I skipped a major intersection and although it was still a bit hairy to cut through the mall’s parking lot, it seemed so much easier to my subconscious – and “what I wanted” to my conscious mind.

Then last week as I was about a half a mile from the intersection I decided to go that way so I could reach a different section that added both miles and hills – things I desperately need for my training.

I took a deep breath and continued on. As I reached this mass of cars speeding by in all directions, my heart beat faster and not because of physical exertion. I was scared, I was feeling anxious, I was feeling overwhelmed. But fortunately I realized that this was just a stress reaction and that I couldn’t make any type of informed decision while all these stress chemicals were circulating in my body.

After a few deep breaths I was able to look at this intersection much differently. It was just several sections that needed to be crossed one at a time. You can’t cross the whole intersection at one time. For one thing, the lights aren’t sync’d that way. For another, it’s all too overwhelming. I smiled and told myself “ok, Terrie, you just have to get across this street”. I didn’t even really think about the next one. My goal at that point was to wait for the light right in front of me to turn and then, making sure I was still looking in all directions, I put one foot in front of the other to get across this short piece of road.

When I got across that section, I repeated the process for the next.

Next thing I knew I was headed down the route I had really wanted to go on for a couple of weeks. I had missed out because I was too overwhelmed.

Life is like that. If we take this gigantic overwhelming group of events as a whole, we can feel defeated before we even start. We have to master one skill – that’s all. Chunk it down! Break each situation or group of situations into small chunks. Cross the intersection of life street by street. See it on a smaller scale, not the “big picture”.

Take writing a book for example. I have screwed around with this one idea for over a year now and have gotten a lot written but nothing in a coherent manner. I have this idea and that idea and on and on so I have a massive list of things I want to add and then I have several ways I want to approach it from.

There was just one problem. I wasn’t getting anything really done,

Then this past weekend, I decided to just do the basic concept I had had in the beginning and started the organization in a “chunked down” fashion. Then it all seemed to fall into place. But it wasn’t done. That was just the first crossroad. Now I have to cross the road that has to do with actually writing and coming up with the “sidebars” that will really make it. Then there are so many other chunks to writing that instead of worrying about them right now when they aren’t even pertinent, I will worry about that “intersection” when I get closer. You know what? I can see the light without all the fog that was surrounding it now that it’s in little pieces.

If you have a circumstance or situation in your life right now see if you can use this method to help you make your way through it. The red light will eventually turn to green!

Have a great weekend!

Terrie