Did you ever feel so stuck in a situation that it immobilized you? You don’t know which way to turn or which steps to take. I’ve been there. It’s like my feet are in mud and it’s beginning to harden like concrete. I can’t move in any direction or even out of the situation.
Well, if you are feeling stuck, today I want to give you Tip #4 to help you “Reframe Your Thinking.” Tip #5 is:
Action over apathy
When we are stuck in something, it’s hard to take action and move forward to get “unstuck.” There can be many reasons for being stuck but one of those reasons I want to address is “apathy.” Let’s look at the definition of apathy.
Apathy is the absence or suppression of having passion, excitement or emotion for something. You just feel numb about the situation or issue and operate in it in a mechanical way.
Is there some area in your life where you can relate to this? It’s like the same old same old. You don’t move forward or even backward. You are immobilized to make any changes and are just in the state of existing.
We all have things in our life that we need to do where we lack passion or excitement. For example, I’m not crazy about cleaning bathrooms. That’s my least favorite room to clean. I don’t mind dusting, vacuuming or washing floors but I don’t enjoy cleaning bathrooms. I have no passion for it. But I do clean it because I want a clean house but there truly is no passion or excitement for it. It’s a chore that needs to be done so I push through.
But there are certain things in life that you need to feel passion, excitement and emotions for and if you don’t, perhaps you need to take action to change.
What are some of those areas
- The home you live in.
- The community you live in.
- The job you have.
- Your relationship with a partner.
- Your relationship with your children.
- Your relationship with your friends.
- Activities you do.
- Things you volunteer your time for.
- The Church you attend.
- The meals you cook and the food you eat.
Those are just a few areas that would require passion and excitement for in order to have a successful outcome. I’m sure there are other areas as well, but these seem to be anchors in our life. If there is no passion or excitement in those areas, then perhaps it’s time to take action to make some changes. Do they have to be major changes? No. They can just be a mind shift in the way you think about them.
Let’s take the job you have. If it seems that the passion you once had in this job has gone out and it’s a drudgery every day to go to work, then what if you changed your way of thinking about it. What if you got up each morning thanking God for the opportunity to work at this company and that you are grateful for the paycheck you receive?
What if as you were driving to this job, you asked God for Grace to help you do what He wanted you to accomplish that day. Maybe there will be a colleague who is in a really bad place and could use your encouragement. Go to the job each day as if it were an adventure with something new to discover or uncover.
Do that for 30 days and see if the action you took changed the way you feel about that job. If you gave it an honest try for 30 days and you still feel the drudgery, then perhaps the next action you could consider is finding a new job that you are passionate about.
Many times, when we do a mental shift in our thinking, things change and not only in the area you want changed but in other areas as well.
Give it a try and if you need help taking action and making a mental shift, then please reach out. Another voice with other ideas just might be what you need to propel you into passion and excitement. Then let’s connect in 30 days. I’d love to hear if you took this challenge and what your outcome was.
Blessings and love,
Your Spiritual Life and Health Coach … believing in you!