Writers Block, I didn’t know it was a thing until about an hour ago. I’ve been sitting in a coffee shop staring at a screen wondering what in the world I would write about this week.

Expectations are what have my hands tied. You see I feel like I’m expected to write something and to make sure it’s better than what I wrote previously. That’s a tall order to fill, one can only come up with so many puny lines and fortune cookie moments.

I was sitting in a coffee shop staring at a blank word document for an hour and the only thing happening was the draining of my Mac’s battery life. I was falling short, I had no words and the panic of not reaching a deadline took flight. And then I stopped, because this is something we all often feel.

Falling short is a hard pill to swallow; especially when you feel like your life has started its upward climb, soon to reach the top of the mountain with a breathless view. Except for we had to stop, in our vigorous climb we needed to sit down because unfortunately we are already breathless, and it’s not because of the view.

The term “so close, but so far” is accurate in this situation, our goal is in our reach; I can see it, almost touch it even, but I fell short.

So what do we do?

When we feel as if we are falling short what’s the next step?

You take a seat and catch your breath.

There is so much focus on success and happiness that when we hit a bump and trip, when we have to take a minute to stop and catch our breath we become disappointed in ourselves, upset that we can’t just run straight to the top without stopping.

Falling short happens and it’s nothing to feel ashamed of. Whether it’s writers block, a bad test grade, work, relationships, friendships; it’s okay.

Be still, take a moment to catch your breath so you can finish your climb, so you can make it to the top. We are not expected to make it to the top of the mountain without tripping or stopping to breathe.

We are not expected to reach our goal, to reach the top of our mountain, with out falling short in some way.

So today if you feel like you’re falling short of yourself, if your climb is taking your breath away and you’re not sure where to go from here, just stop. Steady your breath and look up at the top of your mountain and remind yourself where you’re going and why.

Close your eyes, look up at what you can achieve, look at the top of your mountain. Once you’ve caught your breath stand back up and keep climbing.

The top of your mountain is exactly what you would imagine it to be; and if we are lucky, it may even be better.