The Viable Alternative

In my last message, I shared with you what to do when you feel trapped by your circumstances.

The moral or the “takeaway” of that message was that if you want to see change in your life, you can’t wait for your circumstances to change in order for you to feel you have the permission to change. Instead, YOU have to change first for change to occur on the outside.

You do this by adopting the feelings ahead of time that associated with the life that you want to have.

But wait just a cotton picking minute….

There are other instances in your life where you feel trapped not because you’re waiting things to change around you to give you the permission to feel a certain way and they’re not changing, but instead because you actually FEEL trapped.

Yes, sometimes in life, you feel trapped, because you’re feeling trapped.

This may be due to the fact that you’re caught in a miserable marriage or relationship that you feel you can’t leave for various reasons (kids, finances, fear of being alone, separation too expensive, etc.), or you’re at a job that you despise but you feel you can’t quit because you need the money, or it may be an unsatisfactory living situation.

In a situation like this, you have to realize that your body is communicating to you that something is wrong and just because you feel you can’t or won’t leave your current situation, doesn’t mean you ignore your body and its needs. This is a time when you feel and connect with yourself and find out what you really need on a emotional level and find ways to meet those needs.

If you ignore your body, that “alarm” will start to get louder and louder and may soon take the form of depression, anxiety or some type of chronic illness or condition.

Also, no matter your excuse for staying in your undesirable situation, there is some type of attachment you have to the situation in the form of an emotion. In other words, there is a feeling you’re harbouring that is keeping you in the situation. It could be fear, pride, anger, a need for approval or love, etc.

What would be of benefit to you is to connect to this emotion and fully feel it in your body no matter how unpleasant or scary it may feel. As you do this, your body will start to process it and let go of it, revealing to you more clarity about your situation that will enable you to make a more proactive decision that’ll help alleviate your situation.

Now, you may also feel trapped and have absolutely NO idea as to why you’re feeling this way. All you know is that you feel caged in, which builds frustration within you and either makes you want to or actually lash out.

If you’re experiencing this, chances are that you’re in some situation that you’re settling for, or doesn’t serve you or that you’re unhappy about that you’re LYING to yourself about by saying everything is okay even though your body is telling you otherwise.

It could be that you’re in a profession that society deems prestigious and also pays well, and because of this, even though you loathe being in it, you try to convince yourself that you’re happy.

OR, if you’re not lying to yourself, you’re so disconnected from your core self that you’re not even aware of how dissatisfied you are.

It could be that you’re living a life that is based on what others like your parents, teachers and society as a whole told you was “right” but you never once looked within to find out what type of life resonates with you at your core, and now your body is trying to tell you what’s REALLY up.

Cue in my first job out of college after receiving a Computer Engineering degree. I had ticked all the boxes of society’s definition of success at my age but still wanted to throw myself through the window almost everyday at work. I didn’t realize at the time that I was living in misalignment.

Nonetheless, because society is so broken, we’re not taught how to deal with our feelings in a healthy way so we wind up trying to outrun the feeling by trying to outthink it, or numb it through food, weed, alcohol, porn, entertainment, prescription meds and a multitude of other distractions.

Psssst……NONE OF THAT WORKS.

Once again, you have to welcome and connect to these feelings associated with feeling trapped and fully feel them through. It’s by feeling your emotions that your body is able to let go of them and you free yourself from their grip.

It’ll also enable you to gain the clarity and resources needed to resolve your situation.

This is The Viable Alternative.

Hope this helps.

Ike Love