I keep getting blocked. Writer’s block kept me away from posting here for a while. Work stuff got busy. Depression blocks piled up. Then I was all ready to post last week, but I got doggy blocked when my puppy got sick. Of all the frustrating things in a world of frustrations, one of the worst is wanting to do something, having the time to do it, and then not doing it. Whether it be apathy, responsibilities, or lack of clarity, blocks are burdens.

My own momentum was somewhat self-impeded by a hodgepodge of freelance gigs and teaching. That Frankenstein’s monster of a schedule and workload was a source of constant frazzle. This was partly due to a fear of one basket for all my eggs. But it kept me stagnate. Since then, I’ve dropped teaching and am focusing on writing.

It’s brought a boost in confidence and sanity. The risk of a less stable, non-rent-paying income has driven me to gain stability via writing. I’ll be headed across the pond to London this month as a blogger/editor/copywriter for a new tech hub company I’m thrilled to be a part of.

Getting through the frazzle meant dissecting the blocks piling up on top of me. They all reeked of fear of failure, my preferred cologne. It took a lot of mental oomph to overcome that emotional pitfall, since life doesn’t come with any objective measurement of failure. There are no report cards or rankings at the end of a level, except for the ones we impose on ourselves. But we definitely excel at imposing on ourselves.

Instead of fighting all those blocks, I played with them instead.

And you, what kind of blocks are you dealing with? More importantly, how do you feel about them? Untangling all those feelings not only helps you figure out next steps, but also which flight of stairs you actually want to climb.