Smooth Sailing

Grimsby Beach, Grimsby, Ontario

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Keller

I love to be near the water and get lost in the sounds of the waves; I find that it gives me the peace I need to go through what is in my head. Like others, I have a lot going on up there. I always wonder how I deal with everyone else thoughts, emotions and decisions. But, when It comes to me making a decision, I either know what to do right away or I run around the bush trying to figure out what I should do. Its crazy It is what I do everyday but some how I get lost. God I should follow my own advise or theories because they work for my clients.

As I have stated before I work as a Rehabilitation Therapist with individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (some dual-diagnosed), Mental Health and Addiction Issues. It is hard for them to make the simplest of decisions so they look to me to assist them in coming unstuck.

Coming unstuck from the immobilizing place of being unable to make a decision often involves a psychological maneuver. I tell them that you make a choice - any choice - left or right, yes or no, this or that - and you begin to get energized and gain some momentum (begin taking action of some kind). You are out of the doldrums, out of depression, out of a drifting pattern. Now you are heading somewhere. It might not be your intended destination. But when you are in motion, it is easier to find the wind and tack again and again, while plotting your new course.

The bottom line: I tell them to give them self permission to drift while looking at lateral truth and to get yourself unstuck by making a decision - any decision, even the "wrong" one - thereby building up the energy and momentum you need in order to chart and follow a new course.

I find it helpful and motivating to recall Helen Keller's oft-quoted words: "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. What kind of adventure is your life shaping up to be?