Sometimes You Hit the Wall by Andy Scheer

And sometimes the wall hits you.

It just happened to me. I’m a few weeks from the end of a tedious project, editing multiple short pieces. No sooner do I solve one part, than a new challenge arises. It’s been a grind.

Mid afternoon I ground to a halt. The paragraph refused to make sense.

Realizing I’d reached my limits, I saved the file and left the table.

I took a short walk. Visited the restroom. Filled my coffee mug and ate a chocolate bar. Said a short prayer.

Only then did I return to the paragraph that had stumped me.

It opted to surrender. The rest of the piece followed its example, as did the others I edited the rest of the afternoon.

But tomorrow may be a different story. So this evening I gave myself a break. I watched a quirky TV show, plunged deep into a novel I was reading, and turned up the volume for some choice music.

Tomorrow for breakfast I’ll pour a big bowl of Wheat Chex and drink some prime Colombian coffee. I’ll wear one of my favorite shirts and pack a pastrami sandwich for lunch.

The project may still do its best to stop me. It may even succeed.

But sometimes realizing my limitations is what I need most.