Small Bites!

Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do and what to say—what is right. A body can wake up and feel a pressure pushing down on it before it even gets out of bed. It might be the fear of failure. It might be the realization of swimming in water that is over our head. Those two things are all in our minds. Well, not exactly—but they aren’t happening NOW. We are not failing at this exact moment. We are not drowning presently.

It's such a struggle to focus on the NOW. There are books written about it. There are, no doubt, people who make lots of money talking about it and coaching people to appreciate it. The reality of failure is real. People, ideas, efforts fail every day, but often the actual failure follows only after a long period of doubt, fear, and anxiety.

If you are not failing today, you are not failing. If your head is above the water, you are not drowning. Concentrate on breathing and succeeding. Get your head out from below the water’s surface if it’s not there presently. I am writing this out loud to myself.

“Take small bites!” Isn’t that what our parents always told us? Chew your food. Swallow it before taking the next bite lest you choke. That can be said of thoughts. Think small. Perhaps all this “global” thinking has gotten us overwhelmed. Zoom in—all the way so that all you see is your house and a few neighboring homes.

Thinking too big leaves us to concentrate on our shoulders, arms, torso, legs and feet kicking below the surface. Sure—the majority of us are below the surface of the water, but the part that keeps us alive and that keeps the majority of us from sinking to the absolute bottom is our head and particularly our nose and mouth.

It’s the breathing that counts. While that may only involve a small part of our whole body—we must concentrate on it. We must focus our mind on it. Concentrating on anything else will sow fear and doubt and encourage sinking—maybe even a “giving up” entirely attitude that can spread like a toxic rash.

So, breathe. Kick. Relax. Float. Breathe. Chin up. Spread your arms out. Breathe. Kick some more. Float a bit. Don’t think about sharks! Look at the birds, the sky, the sun. Don’t think about jelly fish. Smile and think happy thoughts and, above all, breathe. Think small. Think now.