What if you don’t need to escape... just exhale?

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When It Feels Hard, Don’t Escape. Lean In.

There are days when the tiniest things feel impossible.

Maybe it’s a tough conversation, a new direction, or just the act of hitting “go live.” It’s easy to interpret the discomfort as a sign we’re doing something wrong—or that we’re not ready. The nervous system screams for escape. Our brain wants to abort mission before anything even begins.

But what if that discomfort isn’t a sign to quit?

What if it’s a doorway?

The other day I caught myself spiraling over something simple. I was heading to the gas station before visiting my mom and found myself trying to pay for the wrong pump! Twice. I was distracted, overwhelmed, thinking about everything except the present moment. And it reminded me how often we get tangled in small moments when we’re carrying big feelings.

We all have hard things: personal growth, creative leaps, vulnerable moves, and the trick isn’t to avoid them. It’s to find a handle.

Finding the handle doesn’t mean making a giant leap. It means asking your body, your heart, and your head to gently get on the same page. It means pausing long enough to hear the true answer behind your fear. Maybe it’s uncertainty. Maybe it’s the risk of being seen. Maybe it’s the weight of wanting to get it just right.

But you don’t have to force it. You don’t have to fake it.

You can take one small step. A two-minute trial. A whispered intention.

And from that place, action becomes evidence. Evidence that you’re safe. That you can move. That growth doesn’t always have to feel like a free fall; it can feel like grace.

If you’re standing in front of a hard thing today, I hope you’ll remember this:
You don’t need to find the exit. Just find the handle.

And if you’d like support in doing that, I’m here.

3 Quotes to Ponder:

2 Thought Experiments:

1. What if discomfort isn’t danger, but direction?
   Consider how your nervous system might respond differently if it interpreted challenge as a sign of readiness instead of risk.

2. What would change if you believed tiny steps were just as sacred as big leaps?
   Let your answer shape your next move.

1 Action Step (Journal Prompt):

What is the hard thing I’m facing, and what is the gentlest two-minute version of moving toward it?

Remember, I'm here to support you on this journey!

Warmly,

Vickie Poole

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I was on the Small Business Network’s podcast. I think you’ll enjoy the conversation.

Watch here.

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