Dear Kara,
I have so many things I want to do that my mind is racing faster than I can actually do them.
Every new idea gives me three more ideas, and suddenly I’m overwhelmed by things I’m actually excited about.
How do I choose what to do first?
I have a confession.
I may have written this particular Dear KARA letter myself.
When Even Good Things Become Too Much
There’s a funny kind of overwhelm that doesn’t come from having too many problems.
It comes from having too many possibilities.
A new idea appears and you get excited.
Then that idea leads to another one.
And another.
Before long, you have six doors standing open in front of you, and instead of happily walking through one of them, you’re standing in the hallway trying to decide which door is the “right” one.
That’s when Gwen wandered into her kitchen.
Gwen’s Refrigerator Rule
Gwen remembers something her grandmother used to say:
“You can be grateful for everything in the refrigerator without eating it all for breakfast.”
Apparently, the same rule works for ideas.
Open the refrigerator when you’re hungry and there may be all sorts of wonderful things inside.
You don’t have to eat all of them.
You don’t even have to decide what you’ll have for dinner.
You simply decide:
What am I having now?
That’s a very different question from:
What should I choose for the rest of my life?
You Aren’t Closing the Other Doors
Sometimes choosing one thing feels frightening because we think choosing it means rejecting everything else.
It doesn’t.
The other ideas aren’t going anywhere.
Gwen’s grandmother never said the rest of the food would disappear because you chose eggs for breakfast.
And your other dreams don’t disappear because you give one of them your attention today.
You’re not choosing forever.
You’re choosing what gets this little piece of your life.
Choose One Room
Here’s Gwen’s suggestion:
Pick one room and spend the day in it.
Not literally, of course.
Choose one project.
One idea.
One possibility.
One next step.
Give yourself permission to enjoy it without constantly peeking through all the other doors.
Tomorrow, you can choose again.
A Funny Thing About Future Memories
There was one more little surprise in today’s Dear Kara episode.
While Karen was busy worrying about everything she wanted to create next, Kara noticed someone sitting quietly beside her.
“Karen… is that Kazi?”
It was.
Kazi was once just a future memory, a cat Karen imagined being part of her life someday.
And there she was.
Kara put it rather nicely:
“Look what happens when you give a future memory enough time to catch up with you.”
Apparently, some future memories arrive with whiskers.
You Don’t Need the Whole Future
Maybe that’s the real lesson hiding inside Gwen’s refrigerator.
We spend so much time trying to make the perfect choice about our future that we forget we only ever get to live it one day at a time.
You don’t need to know exactly where every idea will lead.
You don’t need to choose the perfect door.
You don’t need the entire plan.
As Kara says:
“You don’t have to figure out your whole future today. Just decide what happens in the next scene.”
So if your mind is racing with possibilities today, try Gwen’s refrigerator rule.
Be grateful for all of them.
Then choose one.
The others will still be there tomorrow.
With love from Dear KARA
One question. One story. One thought to carry with you.
The KARA Effect
See it. Become it.
