“There’s obstacles in our path, and we’re gonna deal with them, one by one. We’ll get through this.”
– Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly, “Serenity”

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by our numerous problems, our many troubles. It’s easy to lose sight of our goals and think, “This is it… the end… there’s just too much… too much…” In such situations, it is very important to keep your nerve.

When Mal says this in Firefly, he is dealing with criminals, corrupt cops, and crazed savages, and that’s just in the short-term. He has so many more things to deal with on his plate. Among them: his own crew, most whom do not have his steady nerve. When everyone else is fraying at the edges, he is the center that pulls them together. He sees the problems, sees the solutions, and breaks down what opposes them into manageable pieces. One problem at a time, one step at a time, they can, and will, endure.

That’s how you do it. You don’t do everything all at once, that way lies failure and madness. You take your problems one by one, day by day, sometimes even moment by moment, and you just keep going.

When the world is against you, divide, then conquer.