I am sure you all join with me in wishing our friends in the U.S. safe passage through superstorm Sandy and recovery. For those facing power outages, flooding, or loss, our thoughts are with you.

Anyone who has been in a crisis knows how the world can suddenly be upended, leaving you disoriented and feeling without anchor as all you know washes away. But anchoring your true self to the present can help you reorient and find new footing.

How often, though, is the opposite true? We grasp frantically to hold on to all we knew in the past. Or in a world untouched by crises or change, we feel trapped in mundane jobs, in our perceived limitations, or in relationships that fall short of our dreams: Fastened, fixed, saddled, trapped – in a word – stuck! Are you there? Are you in a grind, glued fast to a narrow slice of reality?

Stuck is when we feel a lack of movement in our lives and see no path to change. Our inherent need to grow seems to hit walls, paradoxically, often of our own creation. Yet hearing that may do little to erase them, as our walls are often built from a perceived duty or limitation.

Do you experience these?

If you are stuck, these may be familiar:

• Preoccupation with the past and future

• Difficulty setting boundaries with other people

• Blaming or resisting others, making excuses

• Sticking to the safe and comfortable

• Guilt, worry, a need to “solve” all of your problems

Strategies for shifting your horizon

Can you imagine standing with a clear view of the horizon, a crisp line of earth meeting sky. What happens if you lie down and look straight up? Turn right or left? Simply close your eyes?

Your slightest movement can alter your horizon – even completely erase it – and remind you that your view is but a small slice of reality. To become unstuck, try changing your habitual reactions to situations and events. Take a different view to step free of the perspective that immobilizes you.

You don’t have to be stuck with the horizon you are looking at.

Kind regards,

Louis

 

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