On this Independence Day are you celebrating your freedom to design your life the way you want and fortunate to be living it; or are you feeling perhaps a bit, or maybe even very stuck, trapped in situations you’d like an immediate escape route?
The energy of freedom creates a mindset of unlimited options–the world is your oyster and the pearls are countless possibilities. Contrast that to feeling trapped–like the oyster shell itself, it’s confining in living within restrictions, few choices except the attitudes you choose to hold. Feeling stuck is energy-draining, emotionally taxing, and keeps you bound in limitation. It might make you scream, “Get me outta here! How long will this go on?!! Venting is good. Even a cathartic scream helps for a time.
Today I’ve received several calls and emails from friends who are stuck right now in circumstances beyond their control–aging parents requiring constant care, responsibilities that cannot be delegated, jobs not yet materialized, relationships that no longer work with complex legal entanglements to free them. Each offers a unique opportunity to develop greater patience, which is a true test when thrust into circumstances you cannot change for an unbearable endurance run. What can you do to sustain your spirits when feeling stuck?
Remind yourself your feelings and situation are temporary. Not knowing how long you’ll endure an undesirable experience intensifies hopelessness and powerlessness. The more attention you give to feelings, the greater their intensity and duration. Whenever you’re experiencing some disheartening, heavy feelings, remind yourself they won’t last, and take action to lighten them as best you can.
Put together a plan of action, even if you can’t implement it right away. It unleashes a feeling of movement that you will be able to feel free once again and move in the direction of your desires.
Call upon your support system. Seek the counsel and comfort of others to vent your anguish. It unloads some of your pent-up heavy energy and by being heard, lightens spirits and calls forth more resources or a renewed commitment to deal with your situation.
Seek out inspirational messages. Post them everywhere, at your desk, refrigerator, bedside or wherever you can grab a slice of sanity. Working with our thoughts requires moment-to-moment attention, replacing the ones that drain us with those that inspire hope and personal power.
Visualize desired outcomes. Hold to what that looks like and see it as a reality. Putting things out to the universe works coupled with firm belief and feeling that it will become reality.
Life’s challenges shake our faith, rattle our world, and force us to grow in ways we never imagined. Feeling stuck at times is a natural part of life. Feeling free is our choice, even in the most trying of situations that test us to our very core. Feeling powerless is not the same as being powerless. Use your power to free yourself whenever life’s circumstances restrict your options. Shift happens. Celebrate your freedom to experience life differently. Let your spirits soar on wings of hope!
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