Have you ever felt that rush of anxiety when faced with a task that seemed larger than life? I remember vividly how I used to feel in school and college every time the word “essay” was mentioned. Just hearing the word made my heart race, my palms sweat, and my mind begin to spiral. In my mind, an essay felt like a massive, towering project that would require more effort than I could muster. The thought of tackling it all at once was overwhelming.
But then something shifted.
I realized that the anxiety I felt wasn’t about the actual essay. It was about how I saw the essay—this big, daunting, unmanageable thing. I’d made it bigger in my mind than it truly was. Once I learned to break the process down into smaller, more manageable steps—researching a bit each day, writing an outline, drafting a paragraph—I started to realize it wasn’t as scary as I’d thought. Piece by piece, I could handle it.
And guess what? I started acing those essays, one by one.
As life would have it, all those small wins turned into something bigger than I ever imagined. Today, I am a multi-award-winning author of my first book Highway to Healing. What once felt overwhelming is now something I deeply love and am passionate about. In fact, I’m working on my second book as we speak, and the writing process brings me joy like never before. It’s funny how life works, isn’t it?
The same is true in life.
So often, we look at the entire puzzle—our goals, responsibilities, challenges—and feel like we need to have it all figured out at once. We see all the moving parts and try to hold them all in our hands at the same time. And what happens? We feel overwhelmed, paralyzed, and anxious. We end up holding onto stress instead of progress.
Here’s the truth: life doesn’t require us to know the end from the beginning. What it requires is that we take the first step. It’s about focusing on the next small, bite-sized task instead of trying to grasp everything at once. You don’t have to complete the puzzle all in one go. Start by prepping the pieces, laying them out, and making sure they’re accounted for. Then begin working on one corner at a time.
The feeling of being overwhelmed often comes when we try to tackle everything in one go. But just like my essays in college, life is meant to be broken down into manageable parts. Instead of worrying about the entire journey, let’s focus on each step forward. And soon, when we look back, we’ll see that we’ve made progress without being crushed by the weight of it all.
“Take a breath. Start small. And trust that piece by piece, everything will come together.”
~ Coach Shae Pratcher ~
