Get Started to Get Going

We’ve all done it. Said: “I am so [overwhelmed, tired, stressed, busy, blocked, outmatched].” And then what do we do about it? Go out and party. Or treat ourselves. Or sleep in. Or wait. It feels better to ignore or pretend. But you know deep down that that isn’t going to truly make it any better. You’ve got to act. And you’ve got to start now.

The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday

Sometimes, we’re just overwhelmed. Life gets busy. We have 45 things on our To Do list, but we don’t have the energy to take care of anything at all. The dishes pile up. The laundry piles up. So, what do we do? We leave the house so we don’t have to think about those things. We avoid them.

We realize that they don’t go away. We don’t get to check anything off our To Do list when we haven’t done anything about it in the first place. But we seek an escape. Sometimes, we justify it by saying that what we’re doing is also important and necessary. Sometimes, we just lie to ourselves, and, worse yet, we believe the lie.

The fact of the matter is, however, there are things that have to be done in life – whether or not we want to do them. I had this conversation with my oldest just the other day. She’s 7, so I’m not sure how much of it actually sunk in right now, and she was in the middle of a major fit about who knows what – she couldn’t even say what she was upset about.

She was telling me that kindergarten is so much easier than 2nd grade. (Her brother just started kindergarten, and I think she’s very jealous of that fact.) And I said, “Yeah, I know. Life doesn’t get easier as we get older, but we are more able to handle it because of what we’ve already learned.” It didn’t really help in that moment, but I hope a part of it will stay with her.

And that’s the thing about whatever it is you are trying to put off right now. It’s supposed to be hard, but you have the ability to do hard things with and in your life.

So, my friend, quit putting it off and get to it.