As some of you may have noticed, stuck is the word of the year so far.
Look, there’s Stuck on the red carpet! And on the cover of Help! magazine. Here’s a a really dodgy picture of a topless Stuck smooching with someone on a beach. (In fact, there’s probably someone feeling Stuck right now.)
Yes, indeed. Stuck is at the podium, every day, giving another tedious acceptance speech for the honour of ruining another person’s fabulousness.
So why are we honouring Stuck with so much damn attention?
The more I see stuff about Stuck everywhere, the more Stuck seems to show up, flaunting its latest frock in front of my face and daring me to look away.
I want to stop talking about Stuck for a moment.
*A single tumbleweed drifts by.*
That’s better. I want to talk about Trust instead.
Trust is like the Indie alternative to Stuck.
Trust is kooky. Quirky. Unique only to you.
When you’re with Trust you can go anywhere you like. But it’s always downstream, easy, no bumps against the rocks at the bottom.
Trust floats. Trust is bouyant.
Trust is cool with that. Trust is yeah, whatever turns you on. Trust makes you feel like the most gorgeous person in the room.
So why not talk more about Trust? About how much you trust yourself? Why not look at your situation and say, “I can trust that it will work. I can trust that the process is for a point.”
Why not allow Stuck to just do its thing somewhere else, while you hang out with Trust on bikes in the forest somewhere in your head, where it’s sunny and there’s a cool breeze, and you have a picnic in your pannier bags and an eye for the perfect sprawling tree to sit beneath?
Because even if you get a puncture and the weather turns, so what? Movie moments are made for kissing under sheets of thunder, soaked to the skin.
Much more fun.
Comments – Sing It Back To Me
Why are we STILL talking about Stuck? Isn’t there a better word we can use? One that goes along with us for the ride instead of gluing us to the spot? Thoughts please!
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Totally with you. Stuck doesn’t actually exist, except as a woefully inadequate metaphor, or in elevators. I am not a nail or a fly or a piece of gum on a shoe. I am constantly moving, shifting, changing. Even when I don’t feel like I am. Unless I really am in a broken elevator.
Kelly Parkinson´s last blog ..In memory of your birthday, which I forgot
I would venture to say that even broken elevators are a damn good thing. Rather be stuck than free falling
I like it!
But I do think it’s a 2-step process. Only when you get sick of Stuck can you get to Trust.
Most of my life I was just going along, struggling with anything and everything and especially myself, and thinking that’s just reality, life SHOULD be hard. But then I found out that that some people call that Stuck. And Stuck implies there is such a thing as Unstuck, and the contrast between Stuck and Unstuck made me aware of Trust – being Unstuck without the need to first be Stuck.
It’s a beginner’s concept, one that taught me there is more to life than dogged Calvinistic pessimism. You sound like you’re ready to be in the advanced classes. :p
I love the idea of trust. Go with Trust instead of stuck and find out what happens then.
I think it’s true that we all do get stuck sometimes, but we have to ask ourselves what story we’re telling here. The one where we’re stuck, or the one where we’re unstuck?
Trust would definitely be the way to go!
Thank you Natalie for adding some fantastic perspective!
Jenny Ann Fraser´s last blog ..This Used To Be My Playground
What keeps going through my head is The Cure’s Doing the Unstuck, added to your forest, trees & bikes, it makes a perfect soundtrack.
And yes, I’m over stuck, too. Acknowledge it, work through it, but don’t dwell on it. Trust is much better.
Alexia´s last blog ..Starred Items: You Are Enough
I have some scary photos I could post of my Goth Cure-loving days. SCARY. x
I hate to say it, but I think the word is afraid. Whenever we’re stuck, it’s almost always fear we’re stuck in. That’s why I think you’re absolutely right. Trust is the antidote. We think it’s willpower, but if you don’t trust yourself or at least trust the process, your will will be short lived. The good news is that trust can be built in small steps.
Ken´s last blog ..discover-magazine-grid
Yes! Trust doesn’t have to come all at once – just a little more faith in ourselves, a little less fear with every challenge. Trust is truly a mindset that gets better with practise.
After several fairly challenging years (I’ll spare you the details!), last year proved to be the icing on the cake. I decided that 2010 would be different. After diligent thought and internal work using a guide from Christine Kane, I set my “intention” for 2010. It was one word….”Move.” As in move on…move out…move forward.
Fast forward to midway 2010. After several life coach/counseling sessions (my first ever), guess what word we discovered related to how I have been feeling: stuck. Not exactly the sexy word of intention that I grabbed hold of way back in the waning days of 2009 (aka the year that shall not be named.)
Well, I am wrestling “stuck” out of the way and moving on to “move.” I have embraced a new one word friend, “trust.” Yes, trust. As in, “Look here, Karen. You have been in some serious tight spots before and you made it through. That’s right you MOVED through them. So how about a little trust that you can MOVE through this.”
So I am moving a little further along with the advice from this post. Moving past fear, moving past stuck…and moving just a little bit farther down the road. Thanks!!
Thank you so much for this Karen – “move” is such a wonderful word…but when we’re stuck and fearful, the word move isn’t much help, is it? We move when we see something to move towards – but what if we’re not sure which direction to take? We get caught like rabbits in headlights and convince ourselves that it’s better not to move at all than take a step into the dark. But seriously, moving out of stuck takes trust not only in yourself and your ability to move through the “year that shall not be named” – but it also requires that you trust in the NOT knowing where you’re moving to. Trusting in the unknown is a big leap, especially if you’re a goal setter and step taker (and I know what this is like!) Life likes to dare us to fire first. Then the answer will invariably show up – because by taking action you have shown you have the balls to take it on! You’ll be awesome – I can tell.
Lovely post, Natalie! And I’ve SO gotten it that “stuck” is the place where my energy gathers to move to the next level. Every time I get bogged down in my writing I know that I’m on the edge of something new – when I finally unstick I’ve gotten a little bit better. I then take off till I get stuck again. Being stuck is awful, working through it till I unstick is incredible.
Melinda
melinda´s last blog ..What’s Your Intention
Errrrmmm!!! I totally needed to read this today! Yikes! Ever since I started my rebranding journey, I’ve felt more stuck & less fun-like.
And I’m such an awesome manifestor! I ask & I really do get! How easy it can be to forget when one gets caught up in the creative process. That’s right, I blame the fact that I’ve never really experienced this kind of thing before (not stuckness, the giving voice to my vision thing) & struggled a bit till today when the lovely Tanya & I hopped on a call to talk about Struggle.
I reframed “I’m not struggling, I’m re-aligning”!! And BOY does that ever feel easier, flowier, lighter! No more using words like ’stuck’, ’struggle’ and ‘I really should know better’
Tia, Coach T.I.A´s last blog ..The Flawed Search for Courage
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