It occurs to all of us now and again — at sure factors in our lives, we really feel stagnant. We really feel like we’re doing too could issues and never sufficient on the similar time; we really feel like we’ve completed a lot, however on the similar time haven’t completed something of worth. And whereas I’ve tried to determine methods to take care of these emotions (maintain an eye fixed out for Thursday’s put up!), at the moment I needed to write 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.
Once I speak about my very own psychological well being, one of many phrases I take advantage of most is the phrase stagnant. I’m undecided why this turned such a commonly-used phrase, however I take advantage of it on a regular basis: once I’m speaking with associates or household, once I’m in a remedy session, even once 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 once they attain a degree the place they don’t seem to be advancing to what’s subsequent, and emotions of stagnancy can have a unfavorable impression on our psychological well being.
However since stagnation has develop into frequent 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 gained – properly, it’s why folks assume 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 foremost level that flies within the face of all the things I’ve been advised about stagnation: it might sign progress. The challenges I face with my psychological well being at the moment will not be the identical challenges I had just a few months in the past, they usually (hopefully) won’t be the identical challenges I face just a few months from now. However this sense is a transparent sign that I’ve grown ultimately, 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 approach you may perceive the place you’re going with out figuring out 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 rather more optimistic than they was once.
