Yesterday my neighbor stopped by with some home-grown cherry tomatoes and a warning. “I noticed that the leaves on that tree in your front yard were turning color before the season. Then, I saw that a huge limb was broken and is hovering over the power lines.”

Not news I particularly wanted to hear let alone deal with.

“You could call an arborist, or maybe CL&P (Connecticut Light and Power).”

I didn’t do anything.

Today, when I arrived home from a luncheon in Tarrytown, I saw said neighbor chatting with my husband who had just arrived home from his errands. I knew what was coming next.

“Jane, I’ve got to get to my classes in Greenwich. Can you deal with this?” I couldn’t hide anymore because now I wasn’t the only one in the household who knew something had to be done.

I braced myself for the call to CL&P. Amazingly, I got a live person on the first try. I explained the situation, he took notes and asked important questions (Was the line between poles or between a pole and our house?) and said someone would arrive to take care of it. Elation does not begin to describe how happy I was.

Thinking about what had paralyzed me–I didn’t actually do anything about this until I had to–I realized that it’s the same list of things that my clients and I go through on a daily basis.

I was afraid that:

• No human would answer the phone.
• No one would understand my request.
• I would be denied.
• There would not be a solution.
• It would cost a fortune.

I can’t say that I will act more promptly in the future, but knowing what inhibits my actions makes taking them just a bit easier.