It occurs to all of us from time to time — at sure factors in our lives, we really feel stagnant. We really feel like we’re doing too might issues and never sufficient on the identical time; we really feel like we’ve achieved a lot, however on the identical time haven’t achieved something of worth. And whereas I’ve tried to determine methods to cope with these emotions (preserve a watch out for Thursday’s put up!), at the moment I wished to jot down about how that makes me really feel as a result of right here’s a secret: a part of the explanation I really feel stagnant is as a result of in some ways, my psychological well being is bettering. And whereas that may be good, I don’t know what to do with that.
After I speak about my very own psychological well being, one of many phrases I exploit most is the phrase stagnant. I’m unsure why this turned such a commonly-used phrase, however I exploit it on a regular basis: after I’m speaking with pals or household, after I’m in a remedy session, even after I’m simply speaking about psychological well being with folks. I feel it’s as a result of for me, being stagnant is a double-edged sword.
There are a number of definitions within the dictionary, however the definition of the phrase stagnant to which I’m referring is outlined by Merriam Webster is “not advancing or growing.” An individual turns into stagnant after they attain a degree the place they aren’t advancing to what’s subsequent, and emotions of stagnancy can have a unfavorable influence on our psychological well being.
However since stagnation has turn out to be widespread in my grownup life, I’ve mirrored on this sense and the way it impacts me. And right here’s my 10,000-foot stage strategy to stagnation: it’s not essentially dangerous. However the approaches I’ve seen to stagnation have turned it into one thing to be feared and a problem to beat, and to show one thing that’s so human and easy right into a battle to be received – nicely, it’s why folks suppose that we have to have life hacks for one thing that occurs to everybody all through our lives.
As a result of right here’s my major level that flies within the face of all the things I’ve been advised about stagnation: it could sign progress. The challenges I face with my psychological well being at the moment should not the identical challenges I had a number of months in the past, and so they (hopefully) is not going to be the identical challenges I face a number of months from now. However this sense is a transparent sign that I’ve grown in a roundabout way, and that’s the arrogance I have to proceed to discover the unknown and develop on my psychological well being journey.
Everybody feels stagnate at totally different factors in our lives. Typically it’s not simply what we do about that, however our perspective that issues most. However there’s no means you possibly can perceive the place you’re going with out realizing the place you’ve been, and the reminders of the place I’ve been on my psychological well being journey have made these moments of stagnation way more optimistic than they was.
