How To Embrace Stagnation And Make A Decision
" If you do not go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place." -Nora Roberts
Several months ago I was experiencing a deep sense of restlessness. This restlessness was creating feelings of frustration that I could not seem to shake. I had been spending too much time in my head, thinking and overthinking the decisions I needed to make and the actions I needed to take both personally and professionally.
Because I'd found myself in this place before, I knew what was going on and what I needed to do in order to release the feeling of stagnation that was threatening to engulf me.
For me the feeling of being stuck for any significant period of time is always an indicator of one of three things:
- I need to make a change.
- I am resisting something God is trying to do.
- I need to engage with whatever it is I am resisting.
The restlessness I felt was my spirit telling me it was time to grow and change; to experience something new in life. Often during these periods of stillness, I am being required to let go of something I’d been holding onto. Most recently I had been holding onto old ideas that were birthed from a place of limitation. These were limits I not only placed on myself but also on God. I had falsely convinced myself that the decisions I needed to make were impossible. These limits were actually disguised as my own doubts and fears. I became stuck in my thinking, therefore, creating a lack of movement in my life.
Our thoughts are powerful and the feeling of stagnation is fed by what we think about ourselves and our lives. Often times the thoughts we hold, keep us tied to those stuck places. But a shift in perspective when we are at a standstill can get us moving again.
There is a purpose in being stuck. And when we enter those times where nothing seems to be changing, we need to have open hearts and minds so we can be present for the lessons this season of life wants to teach. The times of stagnation are the times in which we are standing on fertile ground; ground that is primed for amazing transformation and blessings to grow from and for the movement of life to begin again.
How to Embrace the Place of Stagnation And Make A Decision:
- Acknowledge feeling stuck and accept it for what it is. Denying the feelings only delays the ability to get unstuck. Take an honest assessment of what you are feeling and why.
- Write it down. For me, I find a release takes place when I write out what has me stuck; freeing my mind from the excessive mental chatter. Writing also brings clarity about the decisions I need to make. The act of writing it down also takes what I am experiencing from the abstract to a concrete tangible form. Do not be afraid to explore on a deeper level in your writing what is underneath the stagnation.
- Make a decision. Decision making can be a freeing experience because it removes the internal conflict of not knowing what to do or not to do. We will never really know whether a decision is the best one until we make it and then follow through. So make a choice, knowing you can always choose again.
- Take Action. Once you decide then you must take action. Taking action solidifies the decision you have made. Be committed to seeing your decision all the way through. And have faith that everything will work out just as it is supposed to.
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