With action there is hope

Someone was recently expressing to me their frustrations regarding the amount of things they had to do. They started with a few key things that needed to be done at home and as they continued talking the list kept growing. The key issues first discussed had faded and been replaced with the everyday responsibilities that we all bear. His tone had changed as well and he became increasingly agitated. I could sense some anger and desperation as he continued to add more items. There reached a point where it felt as if though the more items he added, the more he had the right to feel despair. As if that weren’t enough, he now rolled into his responsibilities at work. By the time he had gone through all of what was awaiting him, he had worked himself into a sense of hopelessness.
We all do this. We start off feeling a little overwhelmed with a few key things that we feel need to be done and then we pack on a to do list that would stifle the best of us. In the end, we are angry, resentful, frustrated, and exhausted at the very thought of starting any of it. As long as we live, the list of things that need to be done will always there. At any time, we can decide to access that list and create the same feelings of frustration and panic. Oddly enough, the list seems manageable until we decide differently, something changes. Typically, fear arrives, unknowingly accesses our files of things to do and opens it like Pandora’s Box. In this case, it was the fear of failure. He was recently given a new department to run at work. This was the real catalyst of his feelings, what opened his Pandora’s Box. What if he gave it his all and it didn’t work? This triggered everything that followed. If he could prove to himself that there was no possible way he could give it his all, then he would somehow protect himself from that fear of failing. With action there is hope, without action their can only be despair and later remorse. Close the file of things to do, go back to the key item that started it all and attack it. You will overcome life’s obstacles, just as you always have, and most importantly, you will learn to conquer your fears.

Picture yourself with the tremendous task of building a pyramid alone. All the stones are to one side of you. While you sit doing nothing, you build a case of despair in your mind. The very thought of it frustrates and tires you. Now picture yourself standing up, going to the first stone and eventually putting it in place. However difficult the task may be, you have now created hope.