We all have our ups and downs; for the most part, I'm up. I am in the last small incremental stage (at least I hope I am) of probably the worst cold I've had in 10 years, but that's another thing to be grateful for, that it didn't turn into pneumonia. I cannot get stuck in a hospital as there is no one else to take care of my dogs.

I always try to bear in mind the old story of the king who couldn't find happiness whatever he did, as one thing after another seemed to plague him. Finally, in a desperate grasp for sanity, he offered his kingdom for a solution to his chronic discontent. A wise man came to him and told him he could help the king, to which the king said he would give him whatever he desired if it were so. The man told the king that what he would give him was priceless, but that he must believe it to be true. The wise man left and came back a few days later carrying a ring that bore the inscription, "This too shall pass." He told the king to read the inscription whenever he began to feel overburdened and hopeless.

This little story is very powerful for me, and I believe it to be true that everything in life is fleeting; the good, and the bad alike. That is just how life is.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

I’m sure you’ve heard this old quote before. I’m reminded of it when I think of being stuck. We’ve unintentionally (I believe) built a society in which being stuck is the default mode if we’re honest with ourselves. Making unstuck the default would mean reordering the entire society, which no one person can do alone and we are unlikely to ever do collectively.
So...
I think the first step is realizing it’s not you, it’s us. We’re all stuck here. And the ones who know they’re stuck are a large step ahead of the ones who are well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

I don’t believe that means we are doomed to be miserable though. We’ve all been stuck for a very long time now (ten thousand years at minimum) and a lot of people have had a chance to tackle that problem; some have even made some progress. Some of those have tried to communicate what they learned, but what works for one may not work for another.

There is no magic formula, but for each person, there is (I believe) a possible path. The trick is, that the only person who can see that path is the person who is on it: you.

In pre-science days, clues to finding one’s path were often encoded in metaphor; partly because that’s just how people thought before the Age of Reason, but partly because some of the material can’t be directly apprehended by the rational mind (we were reptiles before we were mammals, and mammals for a long time before humans). Reason is not our native tongue.

Very old problems sometimes respond best to very old solutions. But reading old solutions with new eyes just makes things worse. Reading Iron Age literature with Enlightenment Age eyes just creates fundamentalism, which is so prevalent now as to be considered the whole of what we call “religion”.

So step two, I think, is getting to know your unique self much more intimately and honestly than you ever realized was possible. No one can do that work for another person. And it’s a lot of work. But it’s the obstacle between stuck and unstuck.

It appears to me that the well-established (not the cutting edge fringe) processes and products of science are the quickest and surest path to deep self-knowledge today. But science only knows the “whats”. It doesn’t see itself as having any responsibilities in the “how” department, regarding self-unsticking (other than its very clumsy, unreliable, and insanely expensive offerings called psychology and psychiatry).

The only place I have found any useful clues of the “how” variety is embedded in ancient literature of all types (not just religious) but it can be retrieved only with “metaphorical eyes”. Literal readings will send you in the wrong direction. And learning the proper metaphorical interpretation is fraught with hazard for the modern mind.

What helped me is two-fold. Getting a cursory understanding of how evolution built the creature that is “me”, and learning how to properly interpret ancient metaphorical clues. At the risk of sounding intentionally cryptic, I’ll leave you with this reader’s digest version of ancient allegory: The gold is hidden in the place you least want to find it.

We are now moving into that time of year when stuck-ness seems to be at its most pernicious. I'm doing pretty well at combating it this year. Surprising myself!

Here ya go!

Catch!

Pretty good thank you for asking. I have a lot of work to do and am procrastinating. But the weather is warm here (in the 50s) which is unusual for this time of year, so I'm going to get off my ass and go do what needs to be done

Its legal in Nevada. A toke of sativa will get you going.

You're right. I was just sitting here, sipping coffee, thinking about something from awhile ago, getting depressed and I saw your post. Time to stop thinking about the past. I don't know why but I don't think I'm the only one who gets depressed about it. I would think that thinking about the past would be fond memories and make me smile but it's just the opposite. My life has not been unpleasant. But still, time to live the rest of it in happiness. I hope you can too.

I don't feel motivated to be motivated. I let my body and mind guide me through each day. Sometimes, inactivity recharges me.

It seems like I reach this point regularly and have to make changes. For me, it's rediscovering motivation to involve myself with things.

I too have been stuck and like you decided that I had had enough. So far so good and it mostly feels good to listen to the disciplined side of me again but sometimes the oh never mind part wins. One day, or chore, at a time. Sending good vibes your way.

Carpe diem.Only trouble is that as age weakens the bear's paws, seizing becomes more and more difficult even if the desire can be generated.

One day at the time.....

Stay " alive ".

I have many activities on hold, when I feel I need some change I dive into them.
Knitting, gardening (when my garden defrost), book on the reading line that I keep postponing, and so on.
Results that from time to time I have fresh carrots and lettuce to eat and my friends have scarfs and hats as gifts XD.

Don’t feel bad at least you’re not alone it seems like half of America has been stuck for the last couple of years.
But you’re definitely right it’s time for everyone to get up and change ??