Stuck in the Mud

You ever hear the story of the wagon driver whose wagon gets stuck in the mud?

He sits there on his seat whipping the horse incessantly, beating it until it’s raw, red and bleeding. He shouts at it “Dumb Horse! Get out of the mud!”

Finally the horse turns around and says to the wagon driver. “You’re calling me dumb? I’m just a horse. You’re the idiot that got us stuck in the first place. Why don’t you get off your rear and push us out.”

Who are you in the story?

Are you the horse pulling the wagon? Are you the wagon driver whipping his horse? Or maybe you’re the wagon stuck in the mud?

It’s a trick question. The answer is you’re all three.

Here’s the thing, we go through life heading in a specific direction. We have our blinders on so we can focus on where we are going. Eyes ahead. Trotting along.

And then we get stuck. 

Something happens that jams us up. Like the wheel of the wagon we are stuck in the mud and can’t seem to move forward. We go back and forth a couple times debating our decisions as to how we got there. 

We try to pull ourselves out but the weight of all our decisions is weighing us down and holding us back. The baggage of everything that led to this moment causes you to sink further and further. 

So we start whipping ourselves. Surely if I beat myself up it’ll get me the results I want in life. 

But here’s the thing. Nothing is going to change unless we change it. 

So what do we have to do?

Get off our rears. Get out of the wagon. Push. 

Stop beating yourself up. It doesn’t help. 

Get out of the mental head space of self deprecation. 

Take a step back from the muddy situation. Find a solution. 

Push.