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A wee little while ago Sarah Von from Yes and Yes suggested that we ‘cross-pollinate’ on our blogs. Dirty. Obviously I couldn’t refuse. I’m over at Yes and Yes spreading my seed today so do go and visit… and stay and read the whole damn thing because Miss Von is a genius. She has fab tips on productivity, postivity and general joy and sunshine. You’ll love her! Oh and I JUST received her super awesome calendar in the mail and it’s flippin’ sweet. Meanwhile here is a guest post that she wrote for yours truly… do we feel special yet? I think SO…

A Story About A Melt Down:
Last year, I spent three months backpacking around South America.  I left America with half-hearted assurance that I’d have a job when I returned and a shaky relationship with my long-term boyfriend.  We’d been together for two and a half years and were quickly reaching that ‘break up or get married’ stage.  The Boyfriend headed back to America after six weeks and I stayed in Peru, sorting out my feelings about him, my job and my life back in America.

April rolled around and I found myself trapped in a mountain town in Peru, unhappily single, facing the prospect of returning to no job, no apartment and no partner.  Instead of hiking glaciers or patting llamas, I stalked the streets of Huaraz stuck inside my head, wondering how I’d managed to make such a mess of my life.

Seriously?  Just writing about that time in my life makes me break a sweat.

But despite the rather epic problems that were facing me, I clung (rather desperately) to the belief that there’s a solution to nearly every problem.  Maybe I wouldn’t like the solution.  Maybe I wouldn’t feel ready to take the steps necessary to reach that solution, but a solution was out there.

And here is how I managed to stop freaking out, calm down and find the solutions to (what felt like) the many, many problems in my life:  I made a list.

I drew a line down the middle of my paper and began bullet pointing all of the problems in my life at that time.
* Might not have a job to go back to
* Don’t have an apartment to go back to
* Not sure if I can afford my own place
* Spent all my money traveling
* Completely ruined by this break up

And then to the right of each bullet point, I began listing all of the ways I could solve these problems.  I listed realistic, probable solutions.  Ridiculous solutions.  Things that would work but I was afraid to do.  Anything that I thought would help.

*Might not have a job to go back to
1. Start job hunting online right now
2. Update resume
3. See if any friends know about jobs
4. Get a temp job
5. Waitress at The Lexington
6. Screw America, just move to Japan from Peru
7. Move back in with parents

Even just writing down all of these options calmed me immensely.  Realistically, I knew that where there’s the proverbial will there’s a way, but for me – and I think for most people – when you’re crushed and wound up and depressed your mind just runs in circles of ever increasing anxiety, in which all roads lead to a van down by the river. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcR7hr4LLQg) It’s important to acknowledge the choices that we have, even if we’re unsure that we want to make them.

How do you deal when you’re having a melt down?