Cycles of getting unstuck

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I could sit here and talk about becoming unstuck in the big picture of your life, but I'd feel a bit hypocritical since I'm currently stuck. Really, the big picture for me feels like a road coated in rubber cement. I move forward a little bit, get stuck for a while, manage to free my feet enough to move a few more feet forward, get stuck again. It's been an odd cycle.

On a day to day level, it's more a struggle with motivation and feeling lost than a fight with that rubber cement road. One argues that you can't move forward without a clear goal in mind, but I'm currently of the belief that naming a goal blinds you to potential opportunities that you should be following. This isn't to say I don't have smaller goals I'm constantly working toward. There just isn't an arrival point for my journey yet.

I think somewhere in that last paragraph is the real reason I'm feeling so stuck, so lost.

The day to day feelings of stuck are a bit easier for me to get around. When my motivation flags, when I just don't want to do anything anymore, I consider one of a handful of techniques to get myself moving again.

• I create an impossibly long to-do list, and then give myself one day to get it done.
• I take my normal to-do list and plan out the order tasks will be accomplished so that I end up bouncing between activities. The feeling of being ungrounded and disconnected forces me to straighten up and force myself forward out of the rut.
• I erase my to-do list and instead work toward a list of accomplishments. (It's amazing how a blank whiteboard can be just as motivating as an overwhelmingly long to-do list.)
• I put on music and dance or sing
• I light a scented candle (I was bouncing between vanilla and sandalwood for a while, but now I'm a die-hard jasmine or tangerine girl when it comes to pushing myself out of a rut.)
• I throw in a movie and let it serve as background noise while I force myself out of my rut (So far, my favorites for actually getting anything done are the first two Lord of the Rings movies. The music is subtle. but driving and it's nice to sit and stare at New Zealand when I need a break.)
• On very rare occasions, I give myself permission to completely ignore my to-do list and just play games online.

I feel like I spend more time stuck than unstuck these days, and I know a lot of that has to do with feeling generally stuck in my life. Working through the daily feeling of stuck makes it all bearable, though, becasue it feels like I'm one step closer to wherever it is that will make me feel unstuck and moving forward gracefully again.

Rebecca Thomas

Comments

[Jon Speer]

Rebecca,
Hang it there--we all get stuck! Those who say they don't are lying. I don't mean to suggest things that are obvious. What are your short-term goals? What are your long-term goals? Have you written them down? Does your "to do" list support your goals or detract from them? It's okay to ignore the "to do" list for a while. In fact, I've found when I'm stuck, I get away from it all for a few days. I also find meditation helps.
Jon