Smorgasbord – Part II

Mental Gridlock (Get Out of Your Own Way)

“Mental gridlock” came to me on a train from suburban New Jersey bound for New York City. I was heading into the city to meet a friend of mine to discuss a number of ideas, and on the way, in the process of taking notes on where I had lived, or would want to, the things I had done and/or would want to keep doing, and then a bunch of somewhat random, but somewhat related thoughts, by the time I was done there was an 8 ½ x 11 piece of lined paper covered, literally covered from top to bottom and side to side with red ink. Written diagonally across the page by the way, but just covered, and with such a magnitude of places and people and ideas that at the top, just before getting off the train at the Wall Street Station, where the smell of money hits you in the face as you come to the top of the stairs and reach street level, I wrote Mental Gridlock at the top of the page and underlined it twice.

I am sure we will come back to that piece of paper at some point, and all that was on it, or much of what was on it, but the reason I mention any of that now is because of the multitude of people I have spoken to as of late, young, old, men, woman, boys, girls, employed and not, all trying to figure out what to do with their lives, and being one, that at 45, has come to realize that I have accomplished so much for someone that has accomplished absolutely nothing, I wanted to make sure I told all those trying to figure out what to do first, or next, or forever, do it all, do what comes to mind first, do what you want to do, do what you enjoy, do what you love if you can, do what you are passionate about, do what you have fun at, do what makes you smile, and if someone tells you something is not possible, then do that.

Trust me, I have not figured it all out by any means, not even close, but I am just trying to do something, even if it is small, and even if it takes up just five minutes of my day, something every day that I truly enjoy. I can tell you that this week, with today being the seventh day, and yes I did attempt to rest as someone seems to think that this is supposed to be the day of rest, I have spent 20 to 30 minutes each day this week doing something I enjoy very much, writing, writing for anyone that reads this blog, writing for anyone who may someday read this blog, writing most of all for me.

Make your list, make as many list as you need to, do it so you can see all of it in one place and when you feel that sense of “mental gridlock,” as you most definitely will, remember that it is one thing at a time, and then another, and another, until before you know it you are doing a bunch of things each day, or week, or month, that you have always wanted to do, or were once good at, or never thought you would have time for again. If you can do this, if everyone can do this, then again, as I said last night, in a slightly different way, we can start to take back this country, we can start to make the world a better place every day. Just try your best to “get out of your own way” and do your best a little at a time.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.