Freeing ourselves from if-only’s and should’s

It’s to capture an inner feeling, a moment in time so quickly passing … A moment that is beyond words, almost beyond thought. ~Betty Jean Billups

There are times when I have sparks of inspiration and how-to’s, and I make well-intentioned promises to myself … it feels beyond words, those moments in time … so quickly passing. Because without warning the proverbial light {not-so} fantastic is tripped … energy and mental clarity wanes.

Reality interrupts my plans.

We all face this: Plans that go awry. Situations and people that thwart our desired outcomes.

Even acknowledging the valid reasons for the need to “re-schedule” these activities and times of productivity, we still sometimes trip over “If-only’s” and should’s …

When I face such realities, I have the need to resist several verses of “I want to _____ like I used to” … Because each verse can feel like a trigger-pull of emotional Russian Roulette because I never know when the physical and mental aspects of MS will envelop my days and lock me in a freeze frame of inactivity and mental fog. So-o …

How to overcome this?

How to face it and baby step our way through it?

By playing a Wild Card!

That playing card that substitutes for any other card … And now I actually have a visual for it! Maybe you need one, too!?

So-o … I shall present it when it becomes my turn to free myself from “this is what I could do before” and “I really should be able to” moments! And from that point, I shall consider my “wild card” options:

“show up” each day mentally prepared to overcome … even if I …
decide that physically, overcome will look differently than Before …
find a comfy place to read or collage and journal and art …
wrap myself loosely and rest, and recover and daydream …
wear my favorite {most comfortable and appealing} clothing … as in:
resist wearing frumpy clothing simply because I am not leaving home
maintain {or ask for help to create} a more comfortable atmosphere

One of the essential characteristics we must have to be happy and productive artists is the skill to navigate our way through random time; so that even without a clock for a compass, and without a clear destination, we still know what direction to go. ~Eleanor Blair

What is your wild card?

What are some ways you could “still know what direction to go” when your plans go awry, Braveheart? Thereby avoiding — or minimizing — blame and.or self-loathing, or the various facets of shame, despair and hopelessness in such times?

Does this happen to you?