There Will Be Lobster by Sara Arnell

Author:Sara Arnell [Arnell, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781642939279
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2021-05-13T11:05:08+00:00

Chapter 16

Step Over the Log

“When will you have arrived, in your mind?” my spiritually inclined friend asked me when we met for coffee. She was someone I turned to for advice. I liked her. I told her I would arrive when I stopped obsessing about every little thing that crossed my mind. I live in my head, I told her. I will have arrived, I thought, when I can once again follow a conversation and not have to say, “Can you repeat that?” because my attention had wandered away; when I can look at myself naked without harsh criticism; when I can think clearly and logically and stop excusing things I do, or don’t do, by saying it was meant to be, or it’s the universe talking; when I can remember what to hope for; when I can live in the present; when I can see a light at the end of the tunnel; when I don’t have to begin almost every sentence with the words “You won’t believe what happened;” when my daughter doesn’t have to pick me up off the floor anymore.

She told me to imagine that I was walking down a beautiful path in the woods and that there was a log lying across the path, blocking the way. “Step over it,” she said, “and keep walking. Every time a thought crosses your mind that you want to get rid of, imagine stepping over that log.”

“That’s it?”

“You can also kick the log off the path and out of your way, if there’s something you want out of your life for good. And you can also sit on the log if you need to think a bit more about what to do.”

“Step over the log,” I repeated.

“It works. You have to visualize it very clearly. You have to see yourself, in your mind, stepping over the log. “

“Do you ever kick or sit on the log?” I asked.

“I usually just step over it. It’s enough. The repetition of seeing yourself do this will begin to become second nature, and it will help you quickly rid yourself of thoughts and feelings that you need to shake. It’s also very useful when you run into annoying people—like the lady at the outdoor cafe who allows her dog to jump up on all the tables. I wanted to tell her she owed me a cup of coffee the other day, but I just stepped over the log and left in peace.”

I can relate to this, I thought.

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