Seeking Motivation: The Fine Art of Getting Unstuck

I think most of us have experienced what it's like to feel "stuck" in life.

It can be a debilitating feeling, leaving us with a sensation like we are eternally paddling a canoe upstream. Maybe we are capable of paddling fast enough to keep up with the current, or maybe it feels like we are paddling as hard as we can while at the same time the current is carrying us backwards.

And yet... we feel resigned to continue, perhaps because we are too tired or too stuck in a rut to consider the possibility of trying something completely different.

One of the more interesting pieces of advice I heard a long time ago goes like this: "if you find yourself at the bottom of a deep hole, the first thing you have to do to get out is to stop digging!"

When we feel stuck in life, one of the first things we have to do is figure out what pattern it is we keep repeating that's making us feel stuck. Much of the time, people get stuck in what the psychological profession calls "the repetition compulsion," in which we basically try to keep doing the same thing over and over in slightly different ways, in the hope that at some point will find the secret formula that leads to success.

Whereas that can sometimes work, most of the time we are working in vain while wearing ourselves down and becoming more and more frustrated. We think "next time" will be different, but it never is.

What we actually need to do, is take what possibly feels like a leap of faith and "break state" from the way we've always been doing things. And that can feel scary because we are facing the unknown; the uncharted.

This repetition compulsion we may feel stuck with manifests in many different ways: in our relationships, in our work, in our family relations, in our choices.

Often, we think we're "too clever" to be caught in such a thing, and rather than being open to change, we dig in our heels and cast about for evidence that we're not repeating any sort of pattern. But what do you want? To be right about the hopelessness of your situation... or to move on to something better?

The challenging thing is that we come face-to-face with the fact that we are the common denominator in our problem situations... not "the world" or "a stroke of misfortune."

I write these words from the perspective of having had to "reinvent myself" many times over my 60-odd years on this planet.

Real change is hard, and I'll be the first to admit that I don't much like changes in my world... I much prefer things to reliably glide along in familiar patterns, but change is sometimes inevitable and unavoidable. But - scary as it might be - it's still preferable to slowly drowning in situations that are slowly draining the life out of us.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

How about you? Have you ever felt stuck in life? Did it leave you with a sense of helplessness? What did you do to get unstuck? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2023.10.16 01:46 PDT
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