Confronting the Void

There will come a time in your life when you don’t know what to do next.

You’ve done all you can to make things work, but you hit a rough spot. Not only that but that rock in the road suddenly becomes larger and deeper. And what at once seemed like a minor encumbrance becomes a vast void.

Stuck in it, you may feel empty, confused, hopeless and filled with despair. Life isn’t supposed to be this way right?

Or it’s not supposed to feel this hard especially when you’ve worked so hard thus far.

But it’s actually normal to feel this way. In fact, if you’re feeling stuck right now, revel in it. There’s a good chance change is coming your way.

<Cue in Flashback>

After college, I felt stuck for awhile. My butt and the floor of Borders were good friends. I went there almost every weeknight reading career and writing books hoping for the right one to drop on my head to tell me what I should do next. It took a few months, but gradually I began noticing signs.

I saw an ad in the newspaper for a class on Health Psychology, a field I had growing interest in. I also began hearing stories of fellow friends and classmates who took the leap and moved to the mainland. After months of hemming and hawing, I finally decided to enroll in graduate school. I got in on a whim having never studied the GRE and having applied a few weeks before the deadline.

But it came only after serious introspection, boredom, confusion and lots of time in the void.

If you’re spending some time there right now, take heart. It will end. Use it:

• to rest

• to make sure you’re on the right track

• to breathe

• to refocus your energies

It make feel scary right now. You may began to wander into self-doubt territory. And that’s okay. It’s all helping you to get closer to the person you want to be. It may be helping you to increase your patience, strengthen your faith, and push you to finally pursue your purpose. Contrary to what you may think, you don’t know the true reason why you’re stuck in the void.

The truth is you may not even been “stuck” at all.

In fact, you may be exactly where you’re supposed to be.