Are you feeling stuck?

The scariest place to be is the same place as last year.

Grow.

I saw this quote a few days ago and it really hit home.

Because we all feel stuck sometimes.

If you read my recent post about going through hell (link in the comments), you know that I was feeling stuck for the better part of the last year.

Here’s the funny thing, though:

From the outside in, I didn’t appear stuck at all.

I got married last November.

I gained an amazingly supportive husband and a daughter in the process.

I’m cheering on my husband while he builds his first business.

My company is growing again (and fast).

I’m doing my best to live life before winter and the realities of COVID set back in. Daily walks. Kayaking the river. You know, summer things.

On social media, my life probably looks pretty awesome.

But NONE of that stopped me from feeling stuck.

Full transparency, it actually made me feel guilty for feeling stuck—because, on paper, I shouldn’t have been.

I should be feeling hashtag grateful instead, right?

(Why do we do this to ourselves? That’s another topic in itself.)

If you’re feeling stuck, you’re not alone.

Far from it, actually.

During this pandemic that never ends (like the song that never ends, but much less fun), it’s easier to feel stuck than ever.

Know this:

It’s okay to feel stuck in your professional life, personal life, or both.

It’s okay to not know your next step, to be unsure of yourself.

It’s okay to not be okay.

During my 9 months of stuck-ness, here’s what I told myself:

Everything is a season. Seasons end and this will too.

You can change—actually, you should change. And challenges are often a precursor to change.

You are not required to be who you used to be. You are not required to feel the same emotions, to act out the previously ingrained reactions, to carry on generational curses.

You can be different.

You can CHOOSE to be different.

It’s always the darkest before dawn.

And the sun is rising for me. For all of us.