Okay so today started like crap. Woke up to three urgent emails before my coffee even finished brewing. Could feel my shoulders already tightening up. Then the cat threw up on the carpet. Again. Just one of those mornings where everything piles on before 8 AM.
The Breaking Point
Was trying to finish a project draft, you know? Needed it done by lunch. But my brain felt like mush. Kept re-reading the same paragraph. Started thinking about rent due, that weird noise the car made yesterday, everything. Couldn’t focus. Just sat there staring at the screen, heart kinda racing, feeling totally stuck. Ugh.
Remembering the Quotes Thing
Then I remembered writing about those quotes ages ago. Think I saved them somewhere. Dug through my messy Notes app – past shopping lists, random ideas, half-dead to-do lists. Finally found ’em! Figured, what the heck, worse than this? Can’t be. So I actually did it. I stopped everything. Closed the laptop lid. Made myself look at ’em, one by one.
Running Through Them (Seriously This Time)
Here’s exactly what I did:
- “One thing at a time”: Read this first. Just stared at it. I was trying to do everything at once, no wonder I felt like exploding. Decided: Screw the emails for now. Only the project matters for the next hour. Just one thing.
- “This feeling won’t last”: Man, in the moment it feels forever, right? Read it again. “Won’t last. Won’t last.” Felt a tiny bit of air come back into my lungs. Okay, maybe true. Not stuck like this forever.
- “Breathe first, think later”: Oh yeah, totally forgot to do that. Literally stopped reading and took three big, slow breaths. Like, stomach filling up kind. Felt my shoulders drop maybe half an inch. Small win.
- “Done is better than perfect”: My nemesis quote. I want things polished. Looked at my messy draft. Thought, “Just get it usable. Submit it rough. Fix it later.” Hit send on the draft unfinished. Felt scary, but lighter instantly.
- “Tomorrow’s a fresh page”: Saved this for last. Looked out the window. It was just… today. A bad morning. Didn’t mean tomorrow sucks too. Let go of the idea that this mess defined the whole day.
What Actually Happened
Didn’t magically become happy. The problems were still there. But the crushing weight? Felt lifted enough to function. I went and cleaned the cat mess without cursing. Answered those emails one-by-one later without panic. The project draft? Boss came back with simple fixes, not the rewrite I feared.
Whole thing probably took less than five minutes. Forgot how effective just forcing yourself to stop and read some decent words can be. Realized it’s not magic, it’s just interrupting the panic spiral. Gotta actually do the reading part though. Might make these quotes sticky notes on my monitor now. Or maybe wallpaper. Whatever works today, right?
