When Change Feels like a Train Stuck at the Station

When you start something new, it might feel like a bullet train taking off from the station ... but more often than not it feels like all trips are cancelled and your little engine that couldn't is held up at the station for repairs. 😅

Sometimes that change isn't one you wanted or asked for. Contrary to popular toxic positivity, we don't "create" or "invite" everything that happens to us, sometimes shit just happens. In those situations, I try to look for the little changes I can make to move things along, until larger changes are possible. 

Maybe I can't fix the engine just yet, but I can work on cleaning up an interior cabin or whatever else makes sense in this metaphor. (I do need to clean my garage. 😜)

Other times, the change is exactly what you want or need, buuuut you're stuck anyway. That can feel like a totally different kind of struggle - "why am I frozen up when this is what I wanted??" 

Change is difficult. (Duh.)

Honestly, I believe it's a lot of what we're here in this world to do - experience change, learn how to navigate it with all the feelings that it brings. 

So wtf, now what? 

When you're in a change that you want, but you feel frozen, one that can help is to focus on why you made the change in the first place. 

(If the answer comes out "money!" - ask yourself what the deeper answer is. You chose this change, and there's probably other things you could have also chosen instead - so why _this_ change? What drew you to this choice?) 

Look for where your values show up in the situation. Put your focus there, remind yourself why you're there. 

Because sometimes, when you're really stuck, it's because you are trying to fit your old ways into a new structure. You may need new tactics, and those will be easier to see when you're focusing on why you're doing the new thing, rather than on old habits. 

Or, to really stretch the metaphor - maybe you're stuck in the station because you're not actually a train, maybe you're a plane. Or a paraglider. Or a backpack. Or a puppy, I don't know. It's your metaphor now. 😆

Your values, the things that are really exciting to you about this new place, are going to help shape what you do next. They'll help you figure out the bigger picture over time.

Prompt: a steam train soaring down the tracks in an expansive valley:: train::2 round drawing:: rough black and white pencil sketch minimalistic, outline, sketch, abstract:: outline sketch::3. Also used a quick doodle to get this going in the right direction (so to speak).