Getting Un-stuck

Change starts small.  Many of us adhere to the notion that when we seek change, we want it to be monumental.  Generally, the desire to create change within yourself and in your life accumulates over a long period of time.  The desire becomes so great that it eventually becomes necessary, but rather than taking a realistic approach, it's easy to believe that you will wake up one day in desperation and make it happen all at once.  Unfortunately, this is only a means of procrastination.  Because let's be real, are you really going to wake up one day, after months (or maybe years) of festering in your own self-depracation, and feel motivated enough to fix all of your problems?  Doubtful.  Change is a process, and it requires many small, simple adjustments to your current ways of being.  Baby steps, if you will, will lead you to the most impressionable and sustainable changes; they act as building blocks that will ultimately shift into a new way of being.  But, in order for this to effectively occur, you have to want it, and I mean really want it bad, and you have to be ready to commit.  When it does happen, you will do whatever it takes and you will not compromise your standards.  It's about being proactive and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone; it's about holding yourself accountable.

It's totally normal, natural, and expected to fear change.  We fear the daunting task of how we're going to get there, and we fear the unfamiliar outcome.  This is why many of us put it off until it never happens.  If you succumb to your own fear, you will never live the life you dream about and deserve.  With change comes great freedom, insight, and a world of opportunity.  And it only keeps getting better.  Creating change is an endeavor that requires taking chances, and sometimes you will get burned.  But every experience is an opportunity for growth, and every experience is unique in itself...do not be discouraged by experiences of the past.  I write this as I am undergoing substantial change in my own life, and sometimes I wish I was better at taking my own advice.  It can be very difficult to recover from failed endeavors, and in being totally honest with yourself, you may realize that certain parts of your life are no longer serving your higher self and you must let them go.  It may cause you a great deal of sadness and keeping your head up can often be the hardest part.  But, just because you can't see the stars in the daytime, it doesn't mean that they're not there...it won't be long until they're in plain view.


So where to start?  Consider your own livelihood: what parts of your life act as sources of vitality?  What fuels and energizes your body, your mind, and your soul?  It can be anything from the food that you eat to your relationships to your work and play.  Alternatively, what depletes you and takes away from your vitality?  It is important to recognize that in all beings there is both light and darkness.  The beauty is that you get to choose which part of yourself to feed.  Are you feeding the light, or are you feeding the darkness?  Change your patterns by increasing the vitalizing aspects of your life and decreasing the depleting aspects.  Keep going and the future is sure to blossom.

In the words of a master:

"If we live according to the past, we are bound to feel anguish, boredom, and a kind of meaninglessness.  The comfort zone has its own kind of consciousness that is aware that you have become redundant, that you are doing the same habitual pattern again and again and will be doing it tomorrow, too.  This is a dilemma we all face in life, and the only solution is to let the past die.

"At some level, we all have this conflict within us, and it scares us.  We are afraid to let go, to face the groundlessness and uncertainty.  Way down deep, we feel that if people saw the unmasked us, the naked us, the authentic us, they would recoil in horror.  We are terrified of ourselves, so we maintain the illusions, patch the leaks, and hide.  We become so sophisticated at presenting our masks that we almost fool ourselves, but not quite.  Many of us sense that something is wrong and that deep change is needed- a brave unveiling of who we are at our core.  But we doubt ourselves and our worth...We veer away from taking the journey inward and therefore out of our comfort zone, not realizing that the way out is in.
"We cannot transform without leaving our comfort zone; there is no secret passage around this basic law.  You must face your fears, relax in unconditional openness, and cut through all your tendencies to hold on."
-Baron Baptiste

XO,
E