I heard Marianne Williamson say something in one of her recent lectures that really made an impression on me. (If you can’t tell, MW is one of my absolute favorite spiritual teachers. She pretty much tells it like it is, which I love. 🙂 ) She said, “When you’re feeling stuck, it’s because you are spiritually stuck.” She went on to say that if you’re feeling frustrated because “things never seem to change” in a particular area of your life “it’s because you haven’t changed.” Let that one sink in for just a moment.

I’m guessing your immediate reaction to this statement is one of two things: either it totallllllly hits you in an “OMG, where has this been all my life??” kind of way, or you’re feeling put off or even a little bit angry. If you’re in the latter category, I totally feel you. I realize this can be an extremely difficult (and annoying) thought to absorb, especially when you feel like you’re truly giving your all in a specific situation or area of your life. I definitely don’t want to brush over or downplay any of the frustration you may be feeling if that’s where you’re at. That being said, I feel this can be a super important and life changing concept to grasp if you’ll allow yourself to consider it.

I had a situation in my life recently where I was feeling incredibly stuck —- like gut-wrenchingly, wanting to tear my hair out, tired of hearing myself talk about it stuck. Naturally, I felt like I was doing everything I possibly could to get unstuck. I was praying, I was meditating, I was working my chakras like a full time job and paying regular visits to my energy healer. (Yep, I have an energy healer. And she’s awesome.) All of that work was fantastic, and it did help. But I continued to stay stuck because I was bypassing the one thing I knew I actually needed to be doing, which was taking action in my own life.

When you’re feeling stuck in any area of your life, here’s what’s actually going on: Your soul (the “real you,” who knows what you want and recognizes your desire for change) is urging you to expand and grow. Your ego (or fear based mind), on the other hand, would rather you stay where things feel “comfortable” and “safe,” even if that means reliving the same patterns over and over — patterns that cause a lot of pain and disappointment. The restlessness and frustration you experience as a result is the discrepancy between these two opposing thought systems.

A Course in Miracles teaches us that the ego speaks first and loudest. It’s our job as spiritual students to drown out the voice of the ego so we can more clearly tune into the voice of spirit.

Your ego will use every trick in the book to keep you distracted from the truth of the situation at hand, which is simply that your soul is calling you to expand. In actuality, as human beings we always have free will, so any idea of being stuck is just an illusion anyhow.

So what do you do once you recognize you’ve been caught in a ego-spirit gridlock? First, be gentle with yourself. This work is not for the faint of heart. It takes fierce courage and dedication to truly look within yourself and invoke change. I deeply, deeply honor you for your willingness to do that. Next, take action, my friend! This may be as drastic as leaving your job to pursue a new career or as simple as reading that self-help book you know you need but keep putting off. For me, all it took was a little action to gain a ton of clarity and get things moving right along. The funny things is, I even knew the exact steps needed to take. In fact, I had been agonizing over them for months. If you’re still feeling unsure, sit quietly for a few moments and ask your soul what it’s time to do. Then really listen. Deep down, you already know the answer. I did.

Did this post strike a chord with you? Please share with me in the comments. What action is your soul nudging you to take? I’d love to hear!  <3

xoxo

Kristi