You Are Never Stuck

~ There is never a time when you are stuck in life. You are paused, at one of the many forks you will encounter in the road of your life’s journey ~ talkswitheve

You are never stuck. It may feel like you don’t have another thought, so you don’t know what to do next. Take the moment to just relax, and breathe. Feeling stuck, is your mind’s instinctual response to either too much stimulation, or too many thoughts. In plain words, you are overwhelmed – only for a moment, however.

Reasons for feeling stuck

You are each a unique individual and so the reasons for feeling stuck will vary. We each, however, will need to start with the same thing. First, we must check in with ourselves.

Pausing whatever we are doing is important for us to know what we are thinking, and how we are feeling at that moment in time. Continuing without stopping to focus on, and determine what is happening with you, will only add to your feelings of being stuck.

Too much stimulation

If you are a highly sensitive person, the pandemic with all the bombardment of statistics may be too much. I am sure I am not alone when I say I subscribe to get the virus news updates, and so I get a LOT of alerts.

My phone would be buzzing constantly. All. Day. Sometimes the alerts would be back to back – to back – especially Twitter! I subscribe only to the news alerts for my area.

I need to know how many new cases of COVID-19 are in my area – or is it too much information? Maybe I will turn it off and only check manually because it IS a lot!

Too much stimulation could also be from all the things you now have to do at home. There is no longer separation of people. Or space. Or time. Or activity. Things can get really crazy as you struggle to get it all done, and you may feel stuck. However, you are never stuck.

Too many thoughts

Your mind may also be overcrowded with thoughts. Trying to adjust to social distancing requirements, and the stay at home order can be challenging. Thoughts on your health and safety and that of your family and friends may weigh heavily on your mind.

Hopelessness, sleeplessness, and lack of any control of your life may have your thoughts spinning. For many of you, being at home without the usual breaks of work and other outside activities, may also weigh heavily on your mind.

Finding solutions to your situation may have your thoughts in overdrive. These are unprecedented times. COVID-19 is a new virus causing a pandemic only a few have ever experienced before. It’s no wonder you may be experiencing thoughts overload.

What you can do

First of all, it is okay to be stuck. It happens to all of us. Being okay with feeling stuck is the first step to getting unstuck. The more you fight something the worse it seems to get.

Pause and focus on just that moment. Note what and how you are feeling and not on being stuck. Maybe you can then figure out what to do, to move forward, because you are never stuck. Not really.

You are just experiencing not knowing, at that moment, what you should do next.  Or maybe, at the moment, you feel like I do sometimes – like I am treading water. If I don’t do something to free myself, I will get sucked into that vortex.

There are many other things you can do. What to do will vary by individual and situation, however, so find what works for you.

Don’t worry if you don’t find anything on the list that resonates with you. I am sure your thoughts will be triggered on how you can find your own next move.

One single step, no matter how small, is all you need to get going again.