Are You Feeling Bogged Down?
“Feeling stuck is just a speedbump on the way to your destination.”
– Unknown
Is there an area of your life – personal or professional – where you feel rather bogged down?
As in…it feels like you’re trying to swim in quicksand?
Or like…when you’re driving a stolen scooter at lightening speed through the streets of Rome, being chased by bad guys (or you’re the one chasing the bad guys) and you suddenly find yourself (and your scooter) flying through the air, having gone off an unexpected ramp in the middle of the street and then phwump! you land back on the ground again, miraculously still upright…but when you go to give your trusty scooter gas again – to continue on your adventure/chase – much to your disbelief, you realize you’re not moving!
What?! WHY NOT?! You look down and see that the reason you are not moving is because you have inadvertently landed in…freshly poured concrete! NOOOOOO!! I hate it when that happens!
But you are not one to give up easily, so you rev your scooter again, determined to get unstuck. But you still don’t move! In fact, you quickly realize that not only are you just (slowly) spinning your wheels, you are doing so in rapidly-drying concrete.
Does this sound familiar? If so, that’s probably because it’s a hilarious scene from the Melissa McCarthy movie, “Spy.” Hahahahaha!
If you need a laugh, you can view the film clip here (4-min).
But seriously 😊 the “scooter in cement” scene doesn’t just work in comedy. It’s also a bit of a metaphor for how it feels in everyday life when one day, we are soaring through the air on whatever personal or professional adventure we happen to be on…and the next day, it seems as if we’ve landed in freshly-poured cement…and the more we spin our wheels trying to move forward, the more stuck we become.
And the more bogged down we feel. Ugh!
This sometimes happens to me when I am writing a playscript or screenplay. At some point, things just to start to feel really boggy and convoluted and my characters are droning on and on…and yawn. I’ve lost the plot. I got so mired down in the details I lost sight of the story.
It happens. It happens in writing. And it happens in life. Perhaps you can relate.
Sometimes when this happens to me, while writing a script, the wisest thing for me to do is walk away from the project for awhile.
Time away from anything in life usually helps give us a different perspective for when we return. Share on XBut…sometimes walking away from whatever is bogging me down isn’t always the wisest course of action. Yes, it is probably wise to take a brief step back, in order to clearly access the situation/problem, so that I can break the solution down into manageable chunks…but then it is really important that I get right back to work, so I don’t lose too much momentum.
In other words, when we find ourselves feeling really bogged down, sometimes it is best to leave our metaphorical scooter behind, drying in concrete, and find ourselves a different mode of transportation. But sometimes, it is wisest to haul that sucker right out of the concrete before it dries…then give it a good rinse and carry on with our adventure.
The absolute worst thing we can do, of course, is just stay sitting on the scooter as it becomes one with the concrete…wishing things were different – as life passes us by.
Unfortunately, it is when we are feeling too bogged down – too overwhelmed – to think clearly that we tend to do just that.
How about you?
Is there a personal or professional situation that you are feeling bogged down about? Share on XIf so, what small action could you take – today – to get yourself unstuck and moving forward again?
Related blog by Maryanne
Maryanne Pope is the author of “A Widow’s Awakening.” She also writes screenplays, playscripts & blogs. Maryanne is the CEO of Pink Gazelle Productions and Co-Founder of the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. To receive her blog, “Weekly Words of Wisdom,” please subscribe here. And be sure to visit our PinkGazelleCards Etsy shop.