An incessant buzz. An annoying chiming. Whatever it is, you probably swim up through unconsciousness to tab the snooze feature. Once, maybe twice, or even three or four times. At some point you realize the futility of that and slowly drag yourself out of bed.
You give equal energy to your beginning routine, a pace not much more than a slog. Maybe you drink coffee, thinking that has something to do with waking up, but it is more habit than help, your body’s tolerance more than masking the effects.
Plodding through your day feels a lot like walking through the sucking mud of a swamp as you complete your daily work tasks. Soft earth that clutches, clutches, clutches at each step through a day filled with monochrome predictability.
Only to return home in a listless trudge to an oversalted microwaveable meal or something equally processed with corn syrup and multisyllabic compounds used as preservatives. Maybe you take root in your favorite place on a well worn couch and take full advantage of automatic streaming services. A show that moves from one episode to the next like each day that confronts you.
You might have a family. You might have a bowling night. Yet each is a drab background to an otherwise drab life.
But, even though each morning you might watch the scale creep up a pound, your mind whirls with activity. It’s a strange phenomenon. It seems so energetic, yet so frenetic. You continually draw up plans for a better life. Something other than this oatmeal existence you actually worked for. A workout plan. A diet plan. A date plan. A business plan. A promotion plan.
Why does it never go farther than that?
This is what Eric Erickson called stagnation and he thought it a common challenge for those of us in our middle years. A quiet withdrawal from life that is due largely to a lack of contribution, something he felt was a need of the human being.
He wasn’t wrong.
And being mired in the swamp of stagnation is common to many at different times and places in our lives.
But, what do we do when we look up from our journey and find ourselves in this bog?
Well, like being physically lost, the first thing we have to do is recognize it and then,
ORIENT. Find out which direction we need to go. All those thoughts racing around are all the directions we have to go, but because there is so many directions, we get just as lost in the choices. Pick one. Just one. That is the direction you MUST go.
DECIDE. You have to MOVE. Even if it’s just plodding, you have to move in the direction you have chosen. It is the only way out of the swamp. Each step, as long as you keep putting one step in front of the other, gets you closer to the edge of the marsh.
DRAW. You have the inner strength to stay on the path. Use it. Repeat the decision making and repeat the action. Some days it will be easy, others, not so much. The more you use your strength, the more energy you are going to get. This is the science of motivation. This is the art of momentum.
DRILL. Like regular exercise strengthens the body, regular follow through strengthens the mind. It takes time and it takes repetition. Mastery follows. It may be tedious at times, but you are teaching yourself the mindset to keep going.
CELEBRATE. Rewarding yourself for even small, completed tasks help ensure you will repeat the actions.
At some point, you will get to the edge of the swamp and find firmer ground. You will see that all those ideas you have, all follow the same path out. Things will become lighter. Life will become brighter. You will find yourself revitalized and the drab background will become a colorful skein.
You may even get up before the alarm goes off.