Never say “Whoa!” in a mud hole
Ever been in one of those mud holes? Whether real or figuratively, the mud holes of life present us with a challenge. And, hopefully, we’re not hollering “Whoa!”
What does it mean? Well, if I am in a horse-drawn wagon and have to go through a mud hole, I’d be a fool to stop and wallow in it. The longer I stop, the deeper I could sink, and the harder it would be to get out of it.
Are you in a slump? Are you discouraged by a perceived lack of progress? Are you continually meeting with obstacles?
We all get stuck-paralyzed about a decision, unsure what choice to make:
Stuck in resentment or disappointment we can’t quite recover from.
Stuck in a plan that’s not working as anticipated.
Stuck in a destructive, repetitive dynamic with family members, coworkers, or friends.
When you are in a mud hole, you’ve got to accelerate, move through it.
Take the sage advice of Winston Churchill!
Difficult things do happen to us on our life’s journey, that’s part of the experience. But we can choose to deal with them if and when they happen, rather than expending energy worrying about things that may never manifest.
Why imagine worst case scenarios that haven’t even happened yet, or may never happen?
It would be using the law of attraction against yourself!
As a wise teacher once said:
You can’t worry enough about a problem to fix it.”
What you can do is identify and investigate the possible “problem” and then take action.
The author Robert Fulghum pointed out that:
“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.”
I remember a previous boss who said “Don’t bring me a problem without also bringing me a couple of possible solutions.” It sure cut down on our whining and complaining and moved us all toward solution thinking.
We human beings are actually extremely adept at getting unstuck from those mud holes, at seeing the same thing in new ways, discovering new insights and changing our attitudes.
What mud holes have you found yourself in?
What tools have you used to get out of the mud?
2 Comments
Ah, mine was a relationship, separation thing. I stayed in that darned mud hole for about 2 years. Ghastly experience, and I didn’t like who I’d become whilst wallowing. The ‘giddy-up!’ restart was simply that I woke up one morning and said out loud “I don’t want to feel this way any more. It’s too hard and I’m unhappy”. It was the beginning of moving forward again. Whew.
Fay, it sure is easy to get stuck! And the wallowing that we do, we often do because we think maybe it isn’t really mud, maybe it’s drying out, maybe we’ll wake up and it will be gone. But nothing but choosing to move forward will get us free.