Friday, January 25, 2013

The "Rut" Isn't the RUT, Ya Nut!!!

Okay, so you know the days....nothing seems to go right, nothing seems to make sense...you kind of walk around in a mental fog, when you question what you know and what you believe. Life is still going on around you, but you have this feeling of being disconnected from it all..as though everything for everyone ELSE is just fine, but you seem to be thinking, moving and living in slow motion. You know these days, right?
Well, I've had a series of them. About 8 in a row, to be exact.
So, I thought myself to be in a rut. Ruts happen to us all, and this one seemed to be a doozie! Lasted 8 days, and those days were loaded with knowing that my 'give a damn' was busted!
This morning as I sat, well, really SLUMPED on the couch and drank my coffee, it occurred to me, that this rut has GOT TO STOP! So I got myself upstairs to jump in the shower...and WHAM!!! It got me right between the eyes...this 'rut' wasnt my rut...the past several MONTHS have been my rut, and the last 8 days, have been the breaking point. Eight days is a LONG time to spend at a 'breaking point' but some of us really need to 'be' and marinate in the blech, before we are able to get out of it, I suppose. It takes a lot to drag me down, but once I get there, I'm SO there! :-D
Anyway, here's what I learned in my most magnificent shower this morning. When we get into a rut, or a 'slump' or whatever it is that we want to call it, we tend to look at that time as though IT is the problem. "I had a rough couple of days", or "I'm just having a tough time right now, but I'll get over it". What I learned this morning, is that the "rut" isn't the problem...the time BEFORE the rut is wherein the challenge sits. The 'rut' is the first step OUT of that problem! A downward slide started way before it showed up in your life as a 'rut' or 'rough patch', so the answer is NOT going to be in "why am I in a rut"...the answer can be found in the question, "What was going on for me just before I got into the rut?"
My bet is this...whatever the answer is, will show up as something that you're doing, saying, feeling or otherwise experiencing that is NOT genuine to your true self. It is something that you've said, thought or done, or something that someone else has said or done, that is taking you out of the flow that is "your nature", and causing a bit of a detour.
The key to 'rut-removal' is getting to the bottom of what that pesky little issue is, acknowledging it for what it is, and doing what you need to do with it. Sometimes its something that you need to put down. Sometimes its something that you need to hang on to and learn from. Sometimes its a new habit or thought process that you need to adopt, for your own personal evolution. And sometimes its something that you need to look at, and say, "seriously? all this over THAT?!?", then drop it.
Although each of those scenarios are a bit different, and there are a hundred more options for how to handle the 'issue' at hand, the key to getting out of a slump, is to realize that whatever it is that is out of balance, probably happened before your 'slump' began...so you may have to look back a little ways.
So often, we 'get over' a slump, then jump right back into the same old habits, thought patterns, perspectives and vocabulary...only to have to face the exact same issue again a little bit down the road.
Just something to kick around :-D
So if you find yourself 'stuck' on something, or struggling with something, take a minute and go back to just before that particular 'thing' became an issue, and go from there.

As always, I would love to hear your feedback, and would love to hear what happens for you as you practice your rut-removal process! Please feel free to drop me a note, a text or a call...

Until Next Time,
Jill
www.TheNaturalBodyWorks.com
720-325-9886