Ever get stuck?
Gilligan’s Island was the first sitcom my family watched each week, way back in the mid 1900’s. I don’t recall which night it aired each week, but we were there. Mom and Dad, my brother and sister, planted in front of the old RCA with the rabbit ears all adjusted as we tuned in for 30 minutes to watch the tales of the misfortunate castaways, stranded for years on that little island after what was supposed to be a simple little 3-hour tour…
For those of you who watched it live…well, I’m glad you’re still with us. Like me, you’re probably not watching a lot of reruns of Bob Denver and his crew. We have more important things to do, like looking at Medicare supplement plans! Yet I remember Gilligan’s Island fondly, the 3 seasons it aired, the decade+ that it replayed in the rerun cycles and the made-for-TV movies that came after. I didn’t learn a darn thing watching it BUT it reminds me of times that were meaningful in life. Ya’know…back in the day!
Someone asked me recently “Why do you write those notes every week?”. Fair question. Because I hold the strong belief that encouragement is contagious, and everyone needs to be infected with it. Encouraged people live better, work better, and change things with creativity and effort. The notes are designed to be a little 3-minute retreat for your heart and mind so that you’ll be reminded of your value and pointed a little further forward toward your true identity.
Gilligan’s Island was a quirky sitcom about folks who got stuck, who were alone on an island, who didn’t know if help would ever come. In real life, feeling stuck or alone or helpless is anything but funny and – sure as shootin’ – isn’t a sitcom. The irony is that folks reading this are what I think of as 3-D people; smart and passionate folks with Dreams, Drive and Desire. How do 3-D folks get stuck or feel alone or helpless – even if they’re maintaining high outputs?!
It happens. There’s not a simple answer as to why. Trust me – I’ve spent countless hours with my coaches, therapists and spiritual guides! I’ve been stuck on the inside and productive on the outside aplenty!
Sometimes life just happens to us. Most often, our focus gets off and we attend to wrong things or attend to right things with wrong practices or motives. Sometimes it just lasts a moment and sometimes it lasts a long, long time. Being stuck doesn’t have a time limit. Getting unstuck doesn’t either.
Sometimes you just need a brother or sister to come along and walk with you for a minute or three. We need help remembering and being reminded of things that are true. Things that are transcendent. Things that are filled with joy or wonder or hope.
So that’s why I pop by with the notes – to take a little 3-minute walk with whoever needs it. My hope is that they encourage you to do likewise with folks you know and care for. Our notes don’t “fix” stuck for others – but they bring a sense of communion, a sense of being ‘with’ another. And that is how the pathway out of stuck begins. By being with the other – by having someone with you. We come out of stuck moments or seasons, often led out, together.
We are not called to be the ones who stand by and watch and wonder how they got stuck and if they’ll ever dig themselves out…we are folks - YOU are a folk - who gets in there! Me too.
You are a 3-D player, you already know that. You have lots of plates spinning. IF lately, you may have noticed a little wobbliness to a few of them (heck – if you’ve got kids, the plates wobble all the dang time!) then, by all means, take a little 3-minute retreat today. If you notice someone else needing one, then go be the retreat host yourself with them.
Slow down and give yourself a 3-minute retreat occasionally. Take a little walk and change up the pace and place…you’ll get a new perspective and that is always helpful. And, gawsh-O-Malley, reach out if you need someone to visit with. You do have folks you can chat with (AND you do have my email down below! I put it there for a reason).
Peace~
Craig
craig@r12coaching.com
