Do you know what I mean by feeling stuck? I am sure we have all been there at some point in our lives, perhaps some more than others.  So, what happens when that stuck feeling starts to dominate your life? When you cannot even remember not being stuck?  And, what is it that keeps us feeling this way and prevents us from moving out of it?  Or, do we really need to move out of anything?

I am starting to think this notion of being stuck is derived from a variety of sources.  First, it comes from ourselves when we are feeling as though we are not performing up to par in our lives, but do not know what to do about it.  On another level, we are comparing where we think we should be in life to society's standards...which leads to..ug, more pressure.  There is also the ongoing chatter in our heads that has the ability to make us feel more scattered than needed, and adds, yet again, to feeling stuck.  In other words, if there is too much clutter, how do we know which way to go...resulting in the ultimate crossroads of stuck!  

So, how about we make this stuck feeling a societal issue instead of personal one? (feel better?).  We tend to listen to all the advice around us whether it is - friendly advice, the latest trends, self-help gurus, doctors, and so on.  Adding to this is the increase in avenues of how to relay the information to people (i.e. any form of social media) - and, we have all the latest information at our fingertips anytime.  In the end, it makes for an awful lot of advice on how to live our lives.  Would not any average person feel a little more than overwhelmed (leading to stuck) if we paid attention to it all and then compared to see how we measure up? It would seem the one person we fail to listen to is ourselves.

I cannot help but wonder if we turned inward and took notice as to what we are actually feeling and thinking, if we could have some of the answers we are seeking.sting ourselves is a difficult concept, but one that could prove more helpful than what google is telling us.  I know from my own experience, feeling stuck can be frustrating in the moment, but if I turn off my temptation to look outwards and really listen to me, my stuck feeling becomes a blessing.  Perhaps one needs to feel stuck now and then in order to ultimately move in the direction we want.  


I hope this blog does not feel like more advice and confuse you more.  If you are feeling stuck, just know you are potentially in a really good place!

As we enter into another new year, the all too familiar feeling of making promising resolutions re-surfaces. Do you feel the pressure? I have always found it difficult to jump on board with this tradition - for one thing, a year goes by way too quickly now for me to even think about what new thing I can change about myself once again. I mean, what is so bad about the current me?  And, if there was something I wanted to change, why is it that I have to wait for some magical date to initiate the process?  

The older I get, the greater desire I have had to live and to be in the present.  I started paying more attention to it once years ago when I was forced to slow it down. I was out of work and in constant pursuit of my next move, filled with worry that I had no future.  I would notice how most of society dictates us to live and to plan for the future and, in return, we obey and consistently live our lives for tomorrow.  I am not saying planning is a bad thing, a certain amount of responsibility in one's life can only benefit our today; however, we tend to become so caught up in the planning and worry for our tomorrow, we completely forget about our now.  

For me, learning to live in the present has been a journey worth taking.  My greatest teachers have been nature, time, and my dog.  Nature just happens, we cannot control it, but we tend to find the beauty in it.  Time is the fairest of all things as we all have the same amount - it can mean different things to different situations, but a 24 hour day is still a 24 hour day. And my dog, well, she only cares about now and goes after what she wants when she wants it...she keeps things fairly simple with eating, drinking water, playing, and loving everyone she meets.  I am pretty sure she is not waiting for a new year or tomorrow to make any of them happen.