As someone with a keen interest in empowerment and choice, I recently conducted a survey about feeling “stuck”—what triggers it, how we feel about it and what we do in response.
More than 500 people around the world responded. Not surprisingly, responses revealed that every single one of us―regardless of age, race, gender and geography―feels stuck from time to time. Jobs, relationships and habits/behavior patterns were called out as causing the most heartburn. And, in response, the overwhelming majority reported feeling sad or depressed.
Here’s where the results get really interesting: nearly two-thirds of respondents said they wanted to make a change, and nearly half were ready to do so. Yet only about 10 percent felt empowered to change. Instead, people said they withdraw, cry and procrastinate.
I believe life’s too short to feel sad, disempowered and holding our collective breath, because “stuck” is a feeling like “hungry” or “cold.” It’s impermanent and changeable. Yet it’s heavy. Sticky. It can pull us down, like tar or quicksand. But we must remember that it’s not cement.
“Stuck” is not forever.
The truth is that we’re all lucky to have choices; we just have to be brave enough to make them.
The next time you need a reminder, pull out this powerful list of quotes about choice. They won’t disappoint.
- “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
- “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” ~ Denis Waitley
- “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” ~ William Jennings Bryan
- “When you make a choice, you change the future.” ~ Deepak Chopra
- “What people have the capacity to choose, they have the ability to change.” ~ Madeleine Albright
- “Nothing in life, including our circumstances or potential, is fixed. Reality is bendable to our will.” ~ Brendon Burchard, The Motivation Manifesto
- “Choices may be unbelievably hard but they’re never impossible. To say you have no choice is to release yourself from responsibility and that’s not how a person with integrity acts.” ~ Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men
- “The spirit of a man is constructed out of his choices.” ~ Irvin D. Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept
- “If you limit your choice only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.” ~ Robert Fritz, The Path of Least Resistance
- “There are two paths of which one may choose in the walk of life; one we are born with, and the one we consciously blaze. One is naturally true, while the other is a perceptive illusion. Choose wisely at each fork in the road.” ~ T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with “The Divine Presence”
Relephant:
A Little Quote to Help Us get through the Hard Stuff.
How to get Unstuck & Move Forward.
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Bonus:
The Simple Buddhist Trick to being Happy.
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5 Mindful Things to do each Morning.
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Waylon talks to Ram Dass about being present, the guru within and more!
Author: Becky Vollmer
Editor: Catherine Monkman
Photo: Bruce Aldridge/Flickr
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