Years ago, on vacation in New Zealand, as we were leaving a B&B heading to town to catch a tour of Milford Sound and the beautiful fjords, I backed the car over something. We were stuck. Luckily, we were at a working farm, and the owners got one of their tractors and remedied the situation quickly. I have had a couple of cars that required tows as they began to fail. A second tow was an alert that I needed to make a change. Many television shows have a puzzle for contestants to solve. We sit in our living rooms and watch people get stuck. Sometimes we try to offer advise, yelling at the set for them to move certain pieces or pick a specific letter. We have a different perspective on what they are doing wrong and can help. We are, in essence, trying to be their tow truck.
Often we can be or feel stuck. Stuck in traffic. Stuck in certain patterns or routines or comfort zones. Stuck in unhealthy dysfunctional relationships or in our safe aloneness. Sometimes people close to us put and keep us in stuck conditions. Sometimes they can be the way out. It can be hard to face the first and just as hard to take their hand for the second in an effort to escape, to change.
There are two parts to the condition of stuck. The first is the getting there and the second is the getting un-. Both have their challenges. It can be hard to recognize our stuck-ness. There may be a sense of discomfort or boredom or we may be living in fear. There may be the why-rock-the-boat syndrome. We live in a world of rapid change, so we cling to the familiar as long as we can. But, I'll bet you can, without much thought, list a couple areas of your life you would like to be different. You've probably even tried a few things but reverted to former behaviors. You need a tow truck. Look for someone you trust to help. See this week if you are somehow in need of a tow and if you can be someone else's tow truck.
Marilyn
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