Hello everyone!

Have you ever heard the phrase “The Devil is in the Details?”  It’s a good one.  It is something that I think most of us have bumped up against.

So, without further ado…here is an example from my life:

Many many moons ago, I was at the end of my pregnancy with my first son.  One day I started to clean.  I cleaned.  I cleaned and I cleaned.  This was no ordinary cleaning.  This was cleaning closets, cupboards, tops of cupboards, top of the fridge, every place I could find where dirt might have been hiding. All I could think about was preparing our home for the new baby.

Cuz the new baby would REALLY care if the house wasn’t spotless!

“They” called this nesting.

I called it losing my mind!

When the cleaning started, I was doing it to soothe myself.  I wanted everything all cozy and comfy for when I brought my beautiful baby home.  Plus, I was 3 weeks late and I was trying to keep busy so I wouldn’t freak out that I was 3 WEEKS LATE!!!  Somewhere in between cleaning out the linen closet and cleaning the top of the fridge and trying to figure how to move the fridge cuz it was obviously dirty under there…

I lost my way.

The cleaning stopped being about creating a cozy, comfy environment for bringing my baby home too, it stopped being about soothing me while I waited…somewhere in there…I went over to the dark side.  It wasn’t until my husband came home and saw all that I had done and saw the sweat on my brow that I stopped.  He looked at me with concern.  I looked at all that I had done…with concern.

Needless to say, I was exhausted.  I went to bed and slept a bunch.  I had gone from something that felt energizing and nurturing to exhaustion.

I would love to be able to say that I never did that again.

But…I can’t.

I have done these types of things over and over again and still fall into it…once in a blue moon 😉  Since I am Virgo, I do have a tendency to… hmmmmmm…need things to be “just so.”  There is a fine line between the soothing of “just so”…and the loosing of my mind.

Here is another example from an old friend of mine.  She was busy revamping her business. Redesigning her website, redoing her business cards…that kind of thing.  One day, she started asking all of her friends about the two colors on her business cards.  Was the shade of pink right?  Was the shade of teal right?  Within a few days she was showing us shades of these colors that were so similar that it was like splitting hairs. And it didn’t stop.  In fact, she got mad at all of us because we could not see the differences in the shades.  This lasted for about a month.  By the time she decided on the colors, she was so frazzled.  By the time she got the business cards back, she didn’t even like them.

The big picture was that she wanted her cards and website to be inviting and interesting for those who might want her services.  But somewhere in between “petal pink” and “petal pink II”, she lost her mind.

She lost her way.

It was no longer fun.

It was no longer inspired.

So…does any of this ring a bell with you?

Ever get lost in the details and forget the big picture?

Have you ever started on a task from a place of inspiration only to find yourself hours, days, or even weeks later, being so stuck on the details that you have completely lost perspective?

What can we do when we meet the Devil on the road in our minds?

Well, as always, the first step is to notice how you feel when you are in task land.  Do you feel inspired?  Or do you feel crazy?  Do you feel energized?  Or do you feel trashed?  Do you feel great?  Or do you wish someone would put you out of your misery?

Once you notice how you are feeling, you can then tune into what the hell you are thinking.  When I was losing my mind cleaning, my thoughts were about making our home perfect for the baby…and underneath that was the driver of that thought saying:  “Maybe if you keep cleaning this house, you will go into labor.  But, labor is scary.  So keep cleaning and you won’t be scared!”

Ya.  Right!

Under that thought was the real driver.  “I am afraid that I will suck as a mom.”  “What if the baby doesn’t love me?”  “What if I forget that I have a baby and leave it at the play ground?”

Once you can hear what the thoughts really are…then you have a chance to get out of hell.  Challenge those thoughts:

Is this thought true? (Yes or No)

Can I absolutely know that it’s true? (Yes or No)

How do I react when I think this thought?

Who would I be without this thought?

Once you have answered these questions, notice how you feel.  A little easier to breath?  A little less psycho?  A bit more connected to your bigger picture?

Now that you have a bit more room to breathe and your thoughts have settled down a bit….can you remember what inspired you to start this in the first place?  What were you wanting?  What was your vision?  Can you reconnect with that vision?

Take another deep deep deep breath…bring that vision in nice and clear…

Feel a little better?

Last thing I want you to remember…this is NOT about beating yourself up…we all get caught in this!  All of us!!!  So, be easy and be gentle.

And the next time you come face to face with the devil in the details…you will be able to show him the door!

Let me know how this goes:)