Stuck

For your consideration…..

As I meditated this morning, I kept thinking about the situation on the St. Clair River this weekend. In this picture taken on Saturday, there is a freighter that is stuck in the ice. In this picture you see the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bramble. What you don’t see it a Canadian cutter that was also working to free the freighter. There were more freighters waiting to get down the river so this ice jam needed to cleared. On Sunday a bigger Canadian Coast Guard Cutter joined the bigger U.S. Coast Guard cutter, Mackinaw. Together they worked the river to break up the ice and get it flowing.

While all this was fascinating, it is not what I expected to have keep coming forward in my Sunday morning meditation. You know how that happens. You get still and try to push out or let go of those random thoughts that want to jump into your head. However, this thought just kept coming back until I finally got it.”Stuck.” Our message is about being “stuck.”

We all go through these periods where we feel like we want to move forward. We should be accomplishing more. It seems like we take one step forward and two steps back. We are lacking motivation or we are procrastinating. We are lacking ideas. Our creativity is stalled. We feel like we are supposed to be doing something and can’t quite get the vision on what it is. We are stuck.  I just came through one of those periods myself.

Our Guidance wants us to remember a few things about “stuck.” First it is important to realize and be honest about it. Own it. “I am not where I want to be. I’m stuck in a rut.” “I need to do something different.”

The second thing to remember is that we are never completely stuck. Time doesn’t allow that. It is always moving and even if we feel stuck, things around us are shifting and ultimately changing things for us as well.

We are asked to consider a third thing. We might ask ourselves some questions. Why am I stuck here? What am I not seeing?  What haven’t I learned? What am I avoiding? What am I afraid of?

Finally, look at the picture.  This freighter had to call for help. and so may we. We may have to ask for help and that is ok. We are not meant to go through life completely alone. We may have to call in an expert. We may have to ask a friend for a favor. We may have to be still and ask our Guidance. There is always help available but it is up to us to ask for it. We don’t have to stay stuck.

That is the HOPE. And so it is.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, HOPE by HOPE action steps anyone can take……

-Meditate/pray….ask….”What is my next step for my highest good and the highest good of all?”

-Drink lots of water.

-Get outdoors and take in at least 10 deep breaths.

-Assess. What do I need to be successful? What resources do I need to tap into?

What made me smile yesterday…..

-Lots of writing done.

-Breakfast with my cousin, Karen.

-A  productive trip home from Stillwater.

-Bob, Bruce and I went to see “American Sniper.” It was as good as we heard it was. It touched my heart and it must have touched others because the theater was completely….almost irreverently…..silent at the end.