Day 3: The “Oh, Sh*t” Moment

When you jump in with both feet, the feeling is exhilarating and terrifying, like the shock of ice cold water.

But as Laura at Cottage Copy writes, when the first thrilling high of deciding to take on a new challenge wears off, you’re often left with… nothing. No idea what to say or do next. A cold, lonely feeling in the pit of your stomach.

It’s an “Oh, shit” moment: WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO NOW?

Tell me about it. I’m on that roller coaster every day. I get all excited about another great idea, tweet and blog about it, tell all my friends — and then I have to follow through. I go blank EVERY TIME.

That’s what The Complete Flake is all about, really. It started as a great idea, and thus began the sickening ride of exhilarated highs and panic-stricken lows.

So I’m going to wager that you will hit a wall at some point during this challenge. Maybe it’s already happened, or maybe you’re still at the top of the roller coaster. If you haven’t hit it yet, just know that you can come back here and read this again when it does.

I hit my panic point on Sunday, the day before the challenge was to begin.

Suddenly, there was that old familiar, sinking feeling that I had no idea what to say or do next. Usually when that happens, I do anything I can think of to avoid dealing with it — web surf, tweet, compulsively play sudoko, even wash the dishes. But this time, I did something different.

I reached out and told someone what I was feeling.

And David Crandall said exactly what I needed to hear:

Just take a deep breath and write with love. Since we want people to love THEIR people we just pour out love on them. I totally believe you can do this or I would never have approached you. I’ve seen your writing and know you rock. You were online before people knew there was an online. You own this shit! ;)

The compliments felt great, but it was these words that made the difference: “Just take a deep breath and write with love.”

David and I had talked about how we wanted to conduct the challenge, and we decided that the whole point was LOVE.

When you act out of love, you just, kindasorta know what to say. It’s funny that way.

Well, okay — the compliments helped too, I can’t lie. And that’s the other point I want to make: when you hit your wall during this challenge, however many times you hit it, reach out for support. Accept the love that’s coming back to you.

Ask, and allow, others to help you, encourage you, love you.

Ask here in the comments, or at the #customerlove hashtag, or from your IRL [In Real Life] family or friends — but ask. Tell someone what you’re feeling.

We all feel that way. And we all need a support network, especially when we’re doing something ridiculously, insanely awesome.

Your action step for today is to support each other — or ask for support, if you need it.

• Offer to help.
• Ask for help if you need it.
• Accept help.
• Cheer each other on.
• Pour love on each other.

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