Wouldn't it be nice to be able to stop the clock and with a single Google
search be led to one's true vocation?Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Even in this age of technology, with everything at our fingertips, we still have the free will to choose what to do with our time and our talents. That is, if we can find the time to unearth those talents! But that's the kicker. We spend our lives doing what we have to do, when just beyond the "shoulds" are our true passions. We take jobs we hate to pay bills on homes we may love, but don't spend much time in. We work our whole lives to enjoy a retirement we're too tired and infirm to take advantage of.
It's easy to feel impatient. You just want to push ahead and say yes to the job or relationship because it's readily available and relatively easy. You want to be done with questioning and waiting, and biding your time for the right "one" to come along when good enough is right here! Yet a mistake could be looming if you charge ahead with your will alone.
And yet if you don't act, then you just feel stuck, right? Think instead that you are being encouraged to pause. Why do you feel so stuck?
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has an idea, “What’s really getting you stuck is the running from the stuckness through the cars of your train of knowledge looking for a solution that is out in front of the train (285).”
Look for the Signs
Sometimes you just need to get out of the house. Inspiration can come from the oddest places.
Cue sign number 1:
As someone who was looking for inspiration myself I found my way into the outlet mall to escape my dark house. Upon perusing a free decor magazine I got, I noticed on one of the posters, printed boldly, were the words, “Wander for a bit”. Now I’m not someone who takes everything as a sign. However, this was a sign. It literally was a sign (well, poster).
Maybe you don’t have to immediately take up your old job or relationship again. Maybe you are being asked to do what is somewhat scarier: To wander for a bit. As pointed out in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, “Technology presumes there’s just one way to do things and there never is (166).”
Now, the rational, practical side of me declares it most certainly is good, indeed necessary to make money. But maybe I have to wait a little and see if there is not something else that is being asked of me.
Cue sign number 2:
I find myself opening my book cabinet. I am drawn to The Alchemist; I turn to any page, and bam! I hone in on the underlined sentence:
In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path…a language used by God to indicate what he should do (89).Maybe this stuckness is good, even necessary. In fact, Zen Buddhists strive to have this kind of blank slate, or “beginner’s mind” as is suggested in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, because it is the perfect starting point. “Consider for a change that this is a moment to be not feared but cultivated. If your mind is truly profoundly stuck, than you may be much better off than when it was loaded with ideas (285).”
Also, unless you’re Prometheus, you’re bound to get unstuck. You will move towards a solution. Sometimes what is required instead of foisting yourself into a new work situation is traveling, or doing some spiritual practice, or getting therapy. It could be that something is holding you back from what you really need to be doing with your life. It could be that you can only find out by going beyond the status quo.
“Stuckness shouldn’t be avoided. It’s the psychic predecessor of all real understanding (286).”
So maybe it’s time to put your trust in the Universe a little more. Maybe it’s not up to you alone to create your success. Maybe you need to get comfortable with being stuck and not knowing. Maybe you need to wander for a bit. I know that’s what I’m trying to do.
