Basics

It is interesting (to me anyway) what I pick up along the way.
I was crook for a bit with sweats, head spin, and being lethargic beyond reason.  I did a covid test, and all was good, but one thing was very clear to me.  I realized how difficult it is to concentrate on anything else when not well.  It seems everything else needs to take a back seat.
I am normally a ra ra sort of person.  I focus on what I have in mind to do which contributes to my ultimate goal.  That can be as simple as washing up or cleaning.  It is not all big picture stuff but it contributes to the big picture.  Even big pictures have intricate areas that must be done right if the picture is to look good.
Yet I think it ends up like what I mentioned the other day.  A fall-back position.  There are times when to finish the big picture I deal with what is at hand.  It may not be my first choice of activity, and it may seem like an inconvenience, but the bottom line for me is to come to grips with what is at hand.
There are times when the best thing I can do is get the current situation right.  There is actually a lot riding on me doing so.   Trials are just that.  They are not supposed to stop me in my tracks forever but make me a better person.
It seems that tracks analogies are the way to go here.  When I come across something in my path when walking a track, I do not abandon the walk.  I work out a way around the obstacle.  My progress may not be as fast as I would like but to make any progress at all I need to deal with what is in front of me.  Perhaps it involves cutting a tree trunk, or climbing over it, or going around it.  It really does not matter if my goal is to get to the other side (I am resisting asking why did the chicken cross the road?)
I remember at one place I was in years ago, I was totally absorbed in what I was doing.  I had omitted eating.  My body told me in no uncertain terms it was time to eat.  In fact, it became my mission in life.  All else was forgotten as I hurriedly prepared something to eat.
It highlighted to me that I can achieve nothing if I do not take care of the basics.  I saw eating as an inconvenience.  But it was not.  It was a necessity.  The basics need to be right to fulfil a worthwhile goal.
I feel it is just the same as when I may be crook.  I need to pause in my endeavours no matter how worthy, and get the basics of my health right.  If I do not get that right, I am doomed to fail in reaching my goal.
Having had the stroke, I know I have limitations.  But one thing that has become very real to me is that limitations are not the end of the story.  My goal may still be attainable in a different way.  Or maybe my original goal is no longer attainable.  Thankfully there are a number of goals to be pursued.
I just need to know what is right for me and go for it.  There are inevitable obstacles like ill health, but in that case I can fall-back to the basics and move on.