You’re Not Just a Stick in the River

Have you ever felt completely stuck? Stuck in life or perhaps just stuck in a situation? And you become completely overwhelmed and don’t know what to do or how to move forward?

Several years back I found myself feeling pretty stuck (and yes, dozens and dozens of times since and currently, cause hey, I’m human). It wasn’t everything in my life but enough that it was easy to feel like a victim of circumstances beyond my immediate control. And I know we all feel, from time to time, as though we’re being dragged along, helpless to choose a different path or outcome and with no end in sight.

And then a friend said to me, “you know, you’re not just a stick in the river.” Well, that caught my attention because despite this feeling of being tossed against the rocks, swept under the currents and overwhelmed at the swirling confusion, they were absolutely right.

It was such an impactful reminder that we all are actually in control of our destiny, one way or the other. Be it stuck in a rut, or pulled along by the current, we all can change the course of our lives, even if it’s only one minute at a time, making micro-changes and taking nano actions. Because all those tiny actions, more often than not, precede big change which is the result of ultimately making a hard decision or a series of hard decisions. And not just any decision, but we want to make the right decision. And the right decision is sometimes the hardest of all. But after it’s been made, it will have been the easiest and most obvious decision we could have made, even though we could not see it when we were being pulled down. In fact, I would argue, it will be the one decision you thought was the only one you could not do. The impossible decision becomes possible.

Think of that little stick in the river. In its beginning there is rapid and tremendous growth. It was a tiny branch that sprouted from the mother tree, dependent upon her for its very ability to survive, grow, and to become strong enough to nurture the leaves that would eventually spring forth from it. We too, all began life with amazing strength and perseverance in our youth. We were invincible, spritely and everything was possible. We would wake up and see each day as a fresh new beginning full of potential, and we were not yet jaded by the world.

But throughout our lives and in the world around us, with seemingly random selection, the earth will shift, and the storms will come, and the very foundation and roots of our tree may one day become weak. Or disease will attack the tree, and the tree starts to wither and die. While it may stand for a few more years, eventually it comes down and then the weakened branches break off, some falling into the river below to float away. Sometimes ugly things happen in life and random events find their way to our front doors, unsolicited and without cause, whether we are prepared or not.

But here’s the thing. When our little stick hits the water and finds itself in unknown territory, it’s battle ready. Its exterior has grown a tough bark, and the interior was made solid over many years of hard growing and being exposed to many tumultuous storms. And by the very nature of its composition, it is extremely buoyant. The river pulls and tugs at the stick, trying to pull it under, but it just keeps bouncing back up and bobbing along.  All those years of growth and endurance, in spite of its current circumstances, is what keeps it floating and moving along.

The only difference between us and that stick is that we can remove ourselves from the river at almost any time we want. Even if it’s slow, even if it’s hard, but we can do it. One decision at a time. What decision will you make today?