Feeling stuck? Try this new perspective

Over this last month, I’ve been making way for a new perspective. It has afforded me so much self-compassion, and in turn, this has allowed me to keep moving forward in a way that feels good to me. It has allowed me to move away from getting bogged down in irrelevant and frustrating thoughts and made space for what’s next. I want to share this new perspective with you too.

Do you ever have that frustrating or shameful feeling that you have been here before, trying to solve the very same problem or issue… again?! Perhaps it is a relationship issue, something going on at work, your relationship with food or exercise, deciding on, or planning something. It could be anything, but you actually just feel stuck. The sense that you’re going around in a circle, repeating the same thoughts and behaviour?

Do you ever find that you are berating yourself for not learning your lesson last time? Wondering how you haven’t solved the issue or sorted it out yet? I want you to know that this circle you feel trapped in, it isn’t a circle at all. Of course, when we look at it from the top, it is. But, I invite you to take a step back, for a self-compassionate perspective.

From the outside, notice that this circle is a spiral staircase. You are not simply going around and around. You are going up. Each time, a new floor, a new level. It might feel like you’re back to the exact same spot again. But take a moment to realise just how far you’ve come.

If there is something you feel stuck on (again), I invite you to ask yourself: 

• What do I know now, that I didn’t know last time?
• What have I learnt about myself? My situation? My strengths?
• What new skills or coping mechanisms do I have now?
• What power does it give me to recognise these things? 
• Knowing these things now, what feels like good action, when it comes to what’s next? 

Yes, the issue may be the same, but you are not. I invite you to reflect on your progress and take a moment to welcome this more self-compassionate perspective. This allows us not to get bogged down in the details, but allows in a positive, progressive, energy to support in moving us forward. 

Just noticing and continuing to notice where our thoughts try to take us, is so powerful. It is more often than not, our egoic minds trying to keep us safe, by leaning into familiar, old patterns. When we notice how far we have come, perhaps we can recognise that we are safe to begin letting some of those patterns go now. Recognising the thoughts, patterns, beliefs and behaviours that no longer serve us.

Take this moment of self-compassionate reflection and see what comes up – you’ll be surprised by how many old thoughts or patterns you are able to release, when you start to see how far you’ve already come!