5 Tips Engage Relationships to Help You Get Unstuck
Relationships provide the traction to get unstuck because we are stronger together. The people in your life can give you the extra push you need to get out of the hole – even when you are the one that dug the hole in the first place.
The key to creating the connections that will help you get unstuck is to be honest with you so you can be honest with them.
Daily Inspiration and Encouragement
February 13, 2020
Daily Dash of Twisted Encouragement
Tips for Building Relationships to Help Get Unstuck
You have to do something different if you want to get unstuck. You can’t keep doing what you are doing and get out of the hole. As a matter of fact, if you keep doing what you were doing when you got stuck then you only dig your hole deeper.
My husband and I had an opportunity to go on a “date night.” That’s what he called it the next morning, but we went out to run some errands and stopped for dinner while we were out. During the night, we touched on some hot-button topics – the very thing we are not supposed to do according to some of the experts.
Add to the hot-button topics the weather and the crazy drivers and there were a couple of moments of hot-button responses.
But we always managed to find a way to turn the conversation back to God, to what He is doing in our lives and for our lives.
I woke up realizing how much I love my husband, and I do literally love him more today than yesterday. Our relationship grows because we invest in each other and we laugh with each other (and sometimes we laugh at each other).
We have been individually investing in a personal relationship with God, deeper than ever before. We have been individually talking to God about where we are, how we got here, and what step to take next. We have been individually growing up mountain-moving faith to focus on His promises no matter what the world tried to show us.
That was why we had to touch on the hot-button topics last night. It was time. Our individual investments had helped us but it was time to take it up to the next level. We are stronger when we go together – when we are invested in the journey of the other.
We have been stuck in a hole, spinning the wheels but not moving. Just when we think we are going to get some traction, it rains and the hole becomes muddy. It’s tough enough trying to get out of a hole, but trying to get out of a muddy hole is not fun for anyone.
When dealing with a muddy hole, someone is going to get dirty. Plus, what worked before will not work now. You have to do something different.
In the last six months, my husband made a leap that scared him but excited him. He shifted his focus to something he felt in his heart he needed to do. I supported and even encouraged the shift. It didn’t scare him because of what he would be doing but because it pressed right in the center of his hottest-button issue . . . finances.
I assured him that I would fill in the gap. I didn’t admit that I had dug a hole and I had no idea how to create the traction to get out of it. Instead, I spun my wheels as fast as I knew to spin them. I added more gas.
Months later, I sat in the same place with a bigger hole.
Last night, we tried something different and things shifted, just a little bit.
If you are stuck, stop doing what you’ve been doing. Take a moment to review where you are. Look around for what you can use. Find a way to get a little traction and then move. Most important, be invested in the relationships that will help you find your way to get unstuck.
Relationships Help to Get Unstuck
If you have ever tried to get unstuck on your own, you know it’s almost impossible. You need an extra push or an extra set of hands, or sometimes you need a pull to get clear of the hole. Relationships help you to get unstuck when you are willing to let them.
- Be honest with yourself. You have to be honest with you before you can prepare to share with others. Why are you where you are . . . and where are you? If you don’t admit you have gotten in a hole or gotten stuck then you can’t make the changes to get out and you can’t even begin to ask others to help.
- Be willing to listen to others. When you are in the journey together, you have to be willing to listen to others without giving your two cents. Just practice active listening.
- Expect to make a shift. You can’t keep doing what you are doing and move. If you could then you wouldn’t be stuck.
- Find a place of agreement. If you are going to go together then you have to work together and if you are going to work together you have to find a place of agreement. You will NOT agree on all of it, but find a place of agreement to get started.
- Turn it back to the Third Strand of the rope. Ultimately, He provides what we need to go, to do, to be, and to get unstuck. If you keep the focus on Him then it becomes easier for the others to come to an agreement because HE is the source.
It’s not always easy to get unstuck because you don’t always want to admit that you are stuck. Spinning wheels and throwing mud keep you busy without requiring you to admit you’ve created a problem.
My husband and I took turns sharing what we had done to get us to where we were. Neither one of us brought up what the other had done. Once we were open and honest about how we got stuck in the first place, we were able to begin to formulate a “one thing” to agree on and move towards.
Trust those around you to help you when you get stuck so that you can begin to find the traction you need to get unstuck.
How are you currently stuck? And what are you willing to do to get unstuck?
Challenge for Intentional Actions
Get Unstuck
Be honest about being stuck
List what you’ve been doing
Measure how those actions have been working
Prepare to shift
When you are stuck, you have to move to get unstuck. The moves have to be intentional and they have to be founded on a surface that will provide traction. It helps to have others to help you get unstuck because we are stronger together.
Quote of the Day
“Relationships set foundations for standing through the storm.” – Kathryn Lang
If you are struggling, or stuck, or staring at a wall, then the relationships you build will be vital to getting the traction you need to get unstuck.
What Others Say
Scripture Focus
Today’s Readings:
Numbers 16 – 18
2 Chronicles 5 – 8
Ezekiel 45 – 48
Proverbs 13
Scripture Focus:
“He that kees his mouth keeps his life.” – from Proverb 13:3
Ponder Point:
The words you speak will provide life or bring death – and that goes for everyone that encounters the words. If you want to keep your life and grow up life for those around you then keep your mouth speaking the words of life.
Share Moment:
What words are you sending out into the world?
Study Question
Dig in deeper to the Word to grow a closer relationship with the Word.
When facing Goliath, David pointed to God and declared, “The Lord will deliver me.” (1 Samuel 17:37)
How do you live off this statement on a daily basis?
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