Or, you might surprise yourself.

Have you ever had an Utterly Impossible Month?

The kind of month where you glance at your calendar — all those appointments, projects, deadlines, obligations, responsibilities, people to care for, serve & delight — and your heart seizes up, in a frigid panic?

And you think: there is no way on God’s Green Earth that I’m going to survive this month! What-oh-what have I done?

I remember my last Utterly Impossible Month. I called up my friend Dyana, seeking moral support.

I spewed out everything that Lay Before Me, and said:

“I just know that by the end of the month, I’m going to be wiped out. Totally. Like, I’ll need to check into a spa for a week. Or a mental institute. I’m not complaining. I just know what’s coming.”

She listened, taking my hysteria in stride. And then she said:

“Sure. Yup. Or, you might surprise yourself.”

Huh. I never considered … that option.

I might surprise myself. I might discover Olympian brain-power, untold reserves of creativity, an uncanny capacity for ease.

I might be OK. I might be more than OK. I might be astonishing.

The next time you find yourself facing a mountain of paperwork, a ludicrous deadline, a new project that pricks & snags at every conceivable anxiety in your heart, a yoga pose that’s just not gonna happen, an excruciating relationship stand-off, just remember:

Agony is not the only option. There’s always the possibility that …

You might surprise yourself.