I heard recently the saying “stuck in a rut” originally came from farmers who would drive their tractors down the same route in dirt every day and after a while, the tractor wheels would build up a significant groove, or rut, that would eventually become too high for the tractor wheels to jump. When a tractor got stuck in this rut, it would require many super strong people to hoist the heavy machinery up and move it in a different direction so that it could forge a new path. In this metaphor YOU are the tractor. But I’m sure you knew that.

My point being: we’ve all been that tractor at some point in our lives and longed to be set on a new course, but lacked the bicep strength, it seemed, to make it happen. It’s dark there, in that rut. For me, it literally felt like being stuck in a paper bag: dark, airless and stinking of rotting sandwiches. And the longer I was stuck there, the more I doubted I’d ever get out. But luckily, I did. Whether it be a job we’ve outgrown, a relationship that’s no longer working for us or way of being that’s not the least bit useful, sometimes we need help to envision our way out.