Go Unstuck Yourself

Steve grimaced after completing the four-mile hike. He had been favoring his left foot for most of the walk. He sat on the bench, took off his boot, and removed the annoying pebble from his boot. He mentioned the stone found its way into the boot early on in the hike. “So, why didn’t you stop and remove it once you first noticed it?” I asked. “Well”, said Steve, “I guess I just kind of got used to it after a while.”

Ouch!

Life can often feel the same way, can’t it? Disappointments and discomforts become something we just decide to live with, even if on some level we know it doesn’t have to be that way. But sometimes we get stuck in an emotional place for so long we simply accept our temporary situation as our permanent reality.

Perhaps in some areas of your life you’ve gotten used to struggling because you’ve just struggled for so long? Have you settled for being disappointed in a less-than-ideal relationship because that’s just how it’s always been? Or perhaps there’s a career move you’d love to make but you’ve decided your lot in life is for you to stay who you already are instead of becoming all you’ve been created to be? Simply because that’s what you’re used to?

There’s something perplexingly reassuring in being surrounded by the familiarity of the limitations we are willing to accept for ourselves. But the very comfort found in settling for less is exactly what is preventing us from ever being more.

Change isn’t always easy. But it’s always an option. We need to first decide if where we are is where we want to stay, if the metaphoric pebble in our shoe is something we’re willing to simply tolerate and get used to. If the answer is “yes”, your future will look a great deal like your present and past. If your answer is “no”, the next question is deciding where you really want to be.

We can stay stuck and wonder, or we can allow ourselves to fly and wonder why we waited so long to do so.

Stuck sucks. But staying stuck? That’s really up to you.

Life is always about where we decide to go from here. Yes. It’s a decision.

Your decision.

Maybe it’s time for you to go unstuck yourself?

It’s a great day to be you!   

Photo by Nicole Harrington