Don’t allow yourself to become obsessed with bailing water from the bottom of a leaky boat.  With your head down and your focus on getting rid of that threatening water, you’re missing the point.  You’re not there to bail the water.  The boat is there to get you where you need to be—that place in the sun where your actions are meaningful and your life has real purpose.  Fix the leak and then worry about getting rid of the water so you can stay the course.  It may be scary taking on extra water while you’re fixing the leak, but the alternative is that you never get where you need to be.