I can’t tell you how many people tell me each week they’re stuck. It’s probably the most common complaint I hear. 
Although I know it’s annoying, I first clarify that although they might feel stuck, they are not actually stuck. Unless you sat on spilled super glue or stepped into quicksand, you’re not really.
Everything is always in motion. “Progress” is always being made, most often when we’re resting or cocooning or doing something that doesn’t look like what we expect progress to look like.
We’re just really bad at evaluating what progress is and what it isn’t. Like if you just went through a nasty break-up and you still can’t get out of bed 2 weeks later, does that mean you aren’t making progress? Most everyone in this situation says yes, no progress there.
I totally disagree. You just lived through the first 2 weeks. Who cares if you didn’t get out of bed, you lived through the hardest part and it has to start getting easier eventually. You made a ton of progress.
So anyway, that’s the thing about thinking you’re stuck because of your own self-inflicted standards for progress.
But there’s another annoying thing about feeling stuck that I always tell people. It’s painfully logical but no matter.
It’s that 99% of feeling stuck is due to inaction. Take no action = Feel stuck. Duh.
Action is scary as hell when you think you’re stuck because you put so much pressure on it. You think things like “the right move” and “mistakes” and “messing up” and “screwing yourself over” and “the perfect choice” exist.
But they don’t exist, silly.
Have you noticed what it’s like to take action when you don’t feel stuck? When everything is going your way and life is flowing along like it’s supposed to, you just ACT. You just do something, without all the pressure and forethought.
And those things usually turn out just fine. (So fine that they reinforce your belief in a “right choice”, but that’s another story.)
So the morals of the story are…
Unless you can’t physically move your body, you’re not really stuck. You’re just telling yourself you are and that’s never a good story to choose.
And if want to unstick, move. Do something. Nothing reckless or irreversible, just make a normal-sized move. Repeat until you stop feeling stuck.
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[…] For example, let’s say your inner voice is nudging you toward leaving your current partner but you’re really unsure. You have moments of certainty around leaving…but you also have moments of certainty around not leaving. In other words, you feel stuck. […]
being stuck’s the WORST.
you’re so right though; when you’re stuck, you feel like every/any action is the BIGGEST thing in the world. i remember telling my therapist that changing my venus razor blade seemed so inconceivably difficult that the thought of taking a shower “showered” me with anxiety. (sorry for the pun; couldn’t resist [english major])
and then when i’m feeling good, everything seems light & bright & breezy.
our minds are insane. and by “our,” i mean the human species.
thanks for this post; very refreshing to hear that feeling “stuck” is somewhat normal & just a boatload of mental sewage.