Tricks Of The Trade Or A Not So Wild Goose Chase 

Things will work out...when you do the work. 

 Do the work. 

Just do the work. 

Dare to do something. 

 I am taking a Technical Time Out, because I am trying to absorb something new and technologically challenging. Therefore, as I am terrified I will make a mistake, I am doing what always works for me when backed into a corner... 

 Procrastinating. 

 Whenever I am successfully stuck, 

I seek success by keeping my eyes, not on the prize, but on the skies... 

 The skies overhead. 

Watching where the wind blows. 

 Watching the geese. Procrastinating, watching the skies and the geese flying overhead. Two days ago, flying in perfect formation, a symbolic follow-the-leader to the North. Honking and flapping, swooping and soaring one way. Yesterday, another V-formation dive bombed their way past me, aiming as straight as an arrow, and pointed in the opposite direction. South. Today, they stormed the skies once again, hurling their beaks and their feathered bodies. North.  

Not one goose broke ranks, but I swear a few flew so closely as I paced back and forth, North and South, that our eyes met in a moment of quiet panic and confusion. 

 Where the heck are we going? 

 No surprise, that about that time the squirrel showed up. 

Hold on. I haven’t seen a squirrel around these parts since the temperatures bottomed out. I assumed that they were hibernating high up in their nest, cuddled in fur, awaiting the nudge of a new season. But, no, today there is a squirrel, sitting on my deck, shivering and gathering nuts. 

 Nuts. Him and me. Obviously out of sync, yet creatures of habit. 

When stuck in a rut, seek out the familiar. Or a snack. 

 And as if one goose, one squirrel and one technically challenged writer weren’t enough, here come the robins. I swear. January and three fat bellied robins are perched on the barren tree branch just outside my window. 

We are staring at one another and translating from the avian, speaking the same language. 

 What in the world are we doing here? 

 Feeling crazy all alone in front of a computer staring at a menu of options written in computerese, trying to teach myself how to maneuver through right click left click uncharted territory, is lonely crazy. Following a leader North and South and back again with no apparent purpose, is certifiable behavior I can relate to. Gnoshing on nuts when everyone else is sleeping, yup, I know that feeling. Showing up at the wrong time and in the wrong place for no apparent reason? 

 Yes. Yes. I understand. Been there. Done that. 

 Wild goose chase. Noted. 

 A squirrel moment. We could pass for twins.

The Secret To Success is Simple...Get Up Off Your Butt And...

 Do Something...Anything. 

 Try. 

 Personal success is an option. Take it, I said to myself. And if you are reading this right now, even if I left a participle dangling or the image is blurry...you will know that I did what I promised...I tried. 

Please ignore the oily paw prints on the page, 

 as I needed a lot of help and the squirrel in me needed snacks.

Lots and lots of snacks.