stuck

EmPulse for Week of January 17, 2011

stuck

Have you ever been stuck? Why is it that some experiences tie us up in knots…, Gordian variety? No matter how we try to push through, the blockade persists. A paper to be written for school. A problem in a project on the job. A messy relationship that needs cleaning up. An inner wall that constantly stops us dead in our tracks. It’s like spinning your wheels in Tennessee mud or sliding down an icy road in a New England snow storm…, sideways. Stuck. It’s not so much that you’re stuck, as not going anywhere, or going somewhere you don’t want to go. Either way your road is blocked, blind, or treacherous.

Getting stuck is often simply a corollary of personality. Where one person will sail through the storm, barely noticing there was one, another will capsize and hang on for dear life. The lesson should be obvious. Bring those alongside you who don’t get stuck where you do. If you’re already stuck, find someone with a different personality than yours and grovel before them for help. OR, just stay stuck, stubborn, and obstreperous; and let the mud set up around your ankles.

Developing a different perspective is one way to dig out. We oft do things the same way for so long that we become blind to alternative courses of action. It’s called tunnel-vision—the unconscious, gradual narrowing of our scope of imagination. You may just need a kick in the pants by someone who drives you crazy; or, you may just need to buckle down, gather the right team around you, and have at it. You’re already stuck; what have you got to lose?!  (OK, maybe your pride, your self-determination, and your ego-centric affinity to always do it ALL by yourself. So there. Slosh in the mire.)

It may also be that we need to actually ask for help. This can prove to be a positive thing. It honors the one asked, it is a great step toward resolving your situation, and, hopefully, you’ll get to share a great meal with the one who gave you a hand. Personally, I need a lot of help. Yes, a l-o-t of help. I’ve had to learn to depend on others to accomplish just about everything I have set my shoulder to in life. And more times than not I turn to prayer to seek guidance from above. It would be hard for me to summarize the myriad of times God surprised me with just the right people coming on board, just the right clarification to some aspect of an ambiguous impasse.

Don’t stay stuck. Don’t do the same things over and over expecting a different outcome. Talk through the predicament with a consultant, a friend, or even cuddling in bed with your wife/husband. Prayer wouldn’t hurt too much either. Just don’t leave it there. Get unstuck.

Have a nice week.

Gary