Stuckness: A Messenger in Disguise
How to transform stuckness into growth. A step-by-step guide...
Feeling stuck in life can be frustrating and overwhelming. It's a sign that something within us needs attention.
The key to overcoming stuckness is to stop resisting and start listening to what life is trying to tell us.
Here are five rules to help you navigate through this abstract ordeal:
Recognise that feeling stuck is a sign that something within us needs attention.
Understand fighting stuckness is not a solution to overcome it.
Pay attention to the messages that life is sending our way.
Create new responses by letting go of old beliefs holding us back.
Embrace stuckness rather than resisting it.
The Paradox:
What we are taught is that we have to fight our way out of stuckness. This only compounds it and makes it more severe.
As the adage goes: Don’t struggle when trapped in quicksand; it speeds the sinking.
Two Variations of Stuckness:
There are two types of stuckness, but each requires the same approach to progress.
Variation #1 - we are too busy to slow down. We fail to see that our busyness is a defence mechanism preventing us from hearing the reasons behind our stuckness. The consequence is we never evolve from our current circumstances.
Variation #2 - we are so inactive we convince ourselves the world is moving on without us. We fail to see that the world does not move outside us. It moves inside us.
The Solution:
In short: stuckness is not solved by the act of doing. It is revealed through the experience of being.
Want it to be different? Be different.
You will not solve your stuckness by fighting it. You will only understand its message through conversation with it.
I deep dive into this in the long-form essay behind the paywall.
Beware:
The majority of what motivational speakers and internet gurus preach on this subject is wrong.
It compounds stuckness, it does not alleviate it.
In Short:
Stuckness is not solved through willpower and ego. This is the fake cure they pedal: Muscling it out. It does not work for stuck people. Why? Losing touch with your centre means losing touch with your 'why'. That is why you are unmotivated. You need to reconnect to the "why" behind your life force. Willpower does not work.
How do we Listen to Life?
The essential decision? To make time for ourselves.
Our resistance stems from fear of what surfaces. Most people are terrified of the silence itself.
What if I am just void? Will the abyss consume me?
It doesn’t. It reveals. As Shakespeare writes: “Nature abhors a void”
Create a space. Life will fill it with its answers.
I go into this in detail the long-form essay for subscribers.
The Message of Life
The message of stuckness is archetypal in form.
Here are six things to know:
It asks you to become something new
What it suggests scares you
Growth lies just beyond the threshold of fear.
Listening reveals what it is we are to do.
Critical is un-busying yourself.
In this space, questions transform into answers.
Remember:
This is a process. It takes time. You are not outside life. Life is in you. Be patient. Keep an open mind. If scared; reach out. Nothing catalyses change like communicating. Beware the Nay-sayers: Spiritual growth exists. It's available to all of us. The cynics have it wrong. Growth is inherent to our condition. It is life's celebration. The potential in you can never be destroyed.
In précis: stuckness is a messenger. Do not let its disguise trick you. Let it fulfil its nature: to help you on your path.
With love dear friends,
Jim
P.S. I have started creating a digital course! Here is a picture of my setup. The goofy hippy in the middle is presenting. It’s called:
“The Spirituality of the Creative Path”
It will be released later this year. However, I will be sharing every step with my paid subscribers here in the newsletter!
This week you can find my text on the theme of stuckness. I hope to post my first video soon too!
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