Stymied

By Tyler

We've moved into a new house.  Well, the house isn't new, really, but it's new to us.  It has doors we've never opened before, windows we've never looked through, and floors we've never walked on.  Some floors are carpeted while others are made of wood.  Some floors are above other floors.  There are stairs we have to climb to reach those floors.

We moved into this new house because I started a new job.  Unlike the new house, though, the new job is full of things that aren't new at all.  There is paperwork to be filled out that I am all-together familiar with.  There are doors to knock on that have familiar people behind them.  I also have a company badge and business cards that are exactly the same as badges and cards I've had to carry to work before.  But still.  I think the job can be considered new because I was doing what I'm doing now, but I was doing it somewhere else.  You know.  Before we moved into the new house.

Along with the new job I've also started a new company.  Some people might argue that this isn't a good time to start a new company.  I would argue right back that generally they are correct.  My new company, however, sells a product that is very, very easy to sell, is something that actually solves a problem, is very profitable, and doesn't require any money to buy it.  Sweet, huh?

There are other things of mine that are new, too.  For example, I have a few new clothes.  In fact, I just bought two new suits for my new job (both of them).  I also have a few new friends.  Unlike the new clothes, though, I did not try them on.  I also did not buy them.  Carmen would not have been happy if I had tried either of those new-friend-getting tactics.  Instead they were lured in with charm and with brownies.

I also have a few new hobbies.  For example, did you know that I am writing a book?  It's true, I am.  I'm even excited to say that I have an editor.  She's my aunt, but I don't think her being related to me will prevent her from critically cleaning up my written word's rough edges (she doesn't edit my blog, so no smarmy comments about how poorly written this is, please).  I'm also writing music again, which is good since it's been holed up inside the vast space between my ears for several years now waiting to get out.

But I am stymied.

My new house is a comfortable size, but it's still big enough to remind me how very few things we own.  I have to pass through several rooms and go up a flight of stairs just to find a place to sit down with my laptop.  That's quite a bit of work just to get to sit.

The new job is going very well well but the new business I've started isn't getting enough attention from me.  This is because it is too easy to give your work-related attention to a job that puts money in your bank account every two weeks like clockwork.

My new friends are awesome, but I don't get to see them very often.  One of them is an accountant of sorts, and this is tax season.  Plus he and his wife and expecting their first baby any day now.  In my opinion, those a pretty good reasons to be too busy to be tempted away by brownies.

My book I'm writing is not being written.  I spend a lot of time thinking about characters, their motives, and what happens to them.  I get very excited about it, but when I sit down to write it out, I always let something else distract me.  This means that my wonderful aunt/editor isn't editing anything and is probably wondering when all this editing is supposed to start happening.  My music suffers from the same problem as my writing, in that it gets far less face-time than I'd like.

Now, I'm not whining.  I'm stymied, remember?  I'm not spectacularly upset or annoyed or frustrated or pouty.  I'm not sulking or skulking or pounding any fists.  I'm just stymied.  Progress is not happening.

It could be that there is too much on my plate.  Or maybe I'm just lazy.  Maybe I enjoy the idea of starting something new, but can't commit to the follow-through.  Maybe.

I heard an expression once.  I was told by someone who is smart to avoid "analysis by paralysis".  What does that mean?  Stop thinking so hard about what you have to do or are trying to accomplish and just do it.  That is very good advice.  Not to say that you shouldn't be planning out whatever it is you're trying to do, but rather that you shouldn't ever let yourself get stuck on the "how".  Just do it.  Execute.  Follow though.  Shoulder to the wheel.  Get it done.

Yeah!  Man, just shouting out short little motivational phrases is enough to get you hyped up to go out and accomplish something.  Isn't it?  Can't you feel it?

I can.

I guess I'm not stymied anymore.