Overcoming Challenges
Anyone who knows me knows I do not give up. Every problem has a solution, and every question has an answer. There is no obstacle that I cannot get through. I’ve had my fair share of challenges and roadblocks but have kept moving forward. It’s been my motto my whole life. Whenever I get stuck in a rut, I tell myself I’ve been through worse and made it through. I want to say I’m filled with so much positivity that there’s no way I can quit. But in reality, it’s more than fear of failure that fuels me. There’s no way I’m saying I can’t do it, and I quit. No, I fight and keep fighting until the mission is complete. This mentality sometimes has its setbacks. But that’s not what this post is about.
This is about my recent adventure of switching my room around. The sun rises earlier in the morning when I am the most creative. So, I was determined to put my desk in front of my window. I envisioned typing away, working on my next masterpiece as the sun shone its first rays. Watching the sunrise while I expressed myself felt like the best way to start my day. This seemed easy enough. I switch rooms all the time. I didn’t see this as a challenge, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The bed lay in the top right corner, exactly where I wanted the desk to go. On the left-hand side, my dresser with the tv stood in the top left corner, and then my desk and bookshelf butted the left wall. I planned to slide the bookshelf, desk, and dresser down the wall and to the right out, then set them up on the right side where I wanted them. Then, the bed would slide against the left wall. It seemed easy enough. I cleared off the desk and put everything on my bed. As I moved the furniture, I thought of that game where you have the pieces all mixed up and have to move them around to put them in the correct order. There’s only one blank spot where you can move the pieces around. Those games can get complicated.
Anyway, my idea was working fine, and I moved the bookshelf down and out into the hallway to give myself more room. The desk is light, so I lifted it over the bed and put it in the corner. I got so excited about how everything was going to look. Lastly, I had to turn the dresser and move it past the closet. Well, the dresser got stuck between the closet door and the bed. I forgot to mention how tiny my room is and how the closet comes into the room, cutting off a big chunk of the room. I couldn’t move the bed in any direction because it kept getting caught on the dresser handle. I couldn’t move the dresser because it ran into the closet door knob. I moved everything in every direction as I could, but nothing seemed to work.
I cleaned off the bed, lifted the mattress over the dresser handles, and turned it. I tried moving the dresser again, but it wouldn’t budge. So, I cleaned off the mattress entirely and flipped it so it lay up against the wall. Then I removed the closet door knob. It was already broken (different story for a different day), so it was easy enough. But nope, I still couldn’t get the dresser to move. The box spring and dresser handle were now caught up together. So, I flipped over the box spring and laid it against the mattress against the wall. Slowly and carefully, I navigated the dresser around the closet door and finally put it in its place. In no time, the bed lay back down and snuggled into its corner, and I cleaned up the rest of the room.
As I type this post, the sun rises, and I feel a huge accomplishment. When I told you I wanted to quit so many times, call for help, or wait until my children came up to help, I couldn’t. I had to get it right. I needed to finish this task. And trust me when I tell you the reward is absolutely amazing. After cleaning my room and laying down fresh sheets and blankets on the bed, I read “Dear Manny” (the latest in Nic Stone’s Trilogy) and napped.
The takeaway is that life is filled with endless challenges and moments when you have had enough. But it’s essential to keep moving, thinking, and trying. The first idea may not be the solution, but it will get you closer to the right one. Nothing would have been wrong with me asking for help, but I didn’t need it then. I knew I could figure it out on my own. This experience was another reminder that I am capable of making things happen. And you can, too.
No matter what challenges come your way today, please take a deep breath, think it through, and remind yourself that you’ve already knocked down every roadblock in your path. You got this. 😊
