I look at the title above and feel overwhelmed just thinking about trying something new. Life gets so complicated that the very thought of taking on yet another project numbs my brain. These kittens in the picture? They’re a big reason for my stress level. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy just raising them and seeing to it that they’ll someday go to a good home and will be polite and appealing to their new people.

They have, however, kept me energized and laughing at their antics as they’ve grown into adorable, playful young cats. Despite the trials of raising four kittens (actually five if we count their mother, who is still a kitten herself) we have been blessed with a new outlook on life.

We live near the old trails west, Oregon and Mormon among them. There are places where the wagon wheels became so embedded into the earth that they’re still there over a century and a half later. I haven’t been to see them yet, because I don’t like ruts.

As an introvert, I can easily get into a rut and stay home and avoid people. But after we’ve lived here for ten months, one kind lady from a church we visited actually invited me to meet her and some friends at the community center to play pinochle.

Now, I didn’t even know how to spell the word, much less play it, but I went last week. I learned the game. I felt welcome, and I discovered that I’m climbing out of the little rut I was in for months.

If you find yourself in a rut lately, even if you’re overwhelmed by work, you might consider trying something new. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time, but I think you’ll find that if you meet a new person, read a book by a writer you’ve never read before, or even take a walk in the rain, you could leave that rut behind for a little while.