Transcript

Stuck · Infinitely Precious

0:00
Intro: Welcome to the Infinitely Precious podcast produced by Infinitely Precious LLC. Your host is James Henry. Remember, you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.
0:12
James: Hello, my friends. It's me, James Henry, coming to you with another weekly moment, some thoughts that I wanted to share. Remember, you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are. This morning, I've been thinking about getting stuck. Getting stuck.
0:36
And the thing I've been getting, been wondering about and as far as it goes about getting stuck is getting stuck, wishing that the world were the way it ought to be instead of the way that it is. Now, to unpack that just for a second, the reality is the way that I think it ought to be. My stuckness is based on the way I see the world and think that it ought to be. And maybe you find the same thing. Perhaps you've wondered what to do when, you know, why do you keep getting frustrated when you see things happening in a certain way around the world and it's because you haven't imagined it might be because you have an imagined way that you think the world ought to be, just like I have an imagined way that I think the world ought to be.
1:40
The way we ought to treat each other, whether or not we should normalize lying as a way of, talking in public discourse, those kinds of things. And so when I am faced consistently, it seems recently, with a world that is not as I think it ought to be, but is the way that it is, then rather, rather than be able to do something about it, I get stuck on the frustration and the anger and the other feelings that rise up in me because, because it's not the way I think it ought to be. An example. I read an article over the weekend about how they had to suspend Federal Emergency Management Teamwork in North Carolina because there was a threat against the, federal emergency management workers, that stemmed from misinformation. It's not really misinformation, it's disinformation.
2:51
That's intentional use of information wrongly about what, the Federal Emergency Management personnel are all about doing. And, so, it frustrates me that people trying to help somebody else can't help somebody else without being threatened because helping somebody else has, they've, the the people who are seeking to threaten others are are living from a point of false information, lies about what the Federal Emergency Management Group is trying to do. It ought not to be that way, but it is that way right now. It is that way. And so my getting upset about it, getting twisted out of shape, getting angry about it, doesn't do anything but keep me from acting right this very moment to do something different.
3:55
It gets me stuck in an attitude. It gets me stuck with a frustration. It gets me stuck in an emotion that is not at all helpful. Now some people would say, oh, but, James, that motivates you to do something about it. Well, I'm either gonna do something about it or I'm not gonna do something about it, but the emotion is is extraneous.
4:19
That is just my way of looking at it. The feeling about it is not always helpful because often I get mired in that, I get reactive, and the first thing I want to do is just blast somebody else, which only leads to further problems along the way. I don't know. Are you feeling at all stuck in, in in in wishing that things were a certain way the way you picture they ought to be? I see a lot of folks I know out in the larger world wishing for a world that existed 40 or 50 years ago, and it's not gonna ever be the world we had 40 or 50 years ago.
5:04
Too many things have changed, but it can be the world we have now. And I can do something. You can do something. We can do something about making, the world that kind of better place. We can not tolerate lies.
5:20
We can certainly not perpetuate and share lies that are lies. We can, not say the first thing that comes to our mind that because we're angry or frustrated with what's going on around us, but can instead ask the question, what can I do right now? What can I do right now that has the potential to change the situation I'm in? And the answer may actually be, I can't do anything about it. There's nothing I can do about it.
5:54
But chances are pretty good, in many instances, you can do something about it. You can not just add to the noise, but you can choose to engage. You can choose to say, man, I'm really frustrated by this thing that is happening in the world. What can I do peacefully, lovingly, kindly to change the way things are, at least in my own sphere of influence? How can I engage this moment in a way that will get me unstuck from wishing for something that isn't, and instead seeing things the way they are and doing what I can to make them perhaps better?
6:40
I think that the best possible thing any of us can do is try to make the world better. The best indictment of that which we perceive as bad is to actually practice something better, to do something different, to love when it seems like the popular thing is to hate, to refrain from speaking in those moments when it seems like everybody else is yelling at the top of their lungs. Perhaps our silence in a moment before speaking into, you know, after all the loud voices have passed because sometimes the cacophony will just drown us out. We can find ways to act differently, be differently. I'm not I'm not suggesting that the way you envision realize the world ought to be is is is not good for you to wish for, to wish that neighbors treated each other kindly, that people didn't make judgments immediately based on skin color or religion or nationality.
8:00
Any of those kinds of things. Wishing for a world where those things didn't, weren't weren't seemingly the norm. I can wish for that with you. I can. But I can also do something about it.
8:17
I can also do something about it because wishing doesn't change anything. But acting carefully, responsibly, reflectively to change, that which is not as it ought to be, at least from our perception. Just be careful how you treat yourself, how you treat others. Go back to those questions we talked about a couple of weeks ago. Is it true?
8:51
That would stop almost, all sorts of things that we might say. Is it is it true? Is it really true? Not just does it feel true or do I want it to be true, but is it true? Is it necessary?
9:07
Do I really need to say this thing or do this thing? And if I do, is it kind? Is it kind? Because if it doesn't meet those tests, maybe you ought to rethink whether you should do it or not, and maybe I should do the exact same thing. So we live in a world that makes us feel stuck sometimes between what we think the world ought to be and what the world is, and all we have is now, and now invites us to behave, to act, to think, to engage differently.
9:41
So ponder those things that seem to be holding you stuck. That's what I've been doing today. And if you find those things, perhaps find some affirmative, positive ways that you can engage the world that aren't about being stuck. Those are my thoughts for today. I wish you all the best whenever you're watching this, and remember always, you are infinitely precious and unconditionally loved for the gift you already are.
10:10
Until the next time.