Feeling Stuck? Get Traction with this Simple Hack

Have you ever felt stuck or hopeless? Maybe your like my goat friend. Your in a pickle and don’t know how to get out of it.

Maybe you felt like you were in a funk. You know, the kind of state where you are just plain grumpy.  To make matters worse, your motivation is nowhere to be found.  You are not sure how to get traction for the day. But you don’t want to stay in this state of mind. To be honest, no one around you wants you to continue the status quo.

All I needed to know about traction I learned from a chicken

I have a quick tip for you.  It’s something I learned from a chicken.  Yes, a chicken!  Don’t laugh.  Farm animals teach a lot of life lessons. In fact, that’s why so many children’s books feature them.  But those lessons aren’t just for children.

One day I woke up in a funk.  Consequently, I was struggling to find a way past my irritable blah state.  Coffee didn’t work.  Opening the curtains to let in the sunlight didn’t work.  After all, it was cloudy and raining.  So I plopped into a chair and began stewing.  

Hard to ignore commotion

All of the sudden a great commotion took place just outside my window.  A chicken was cackling.  It was a long series of cackles and clucks designed to alert the whole entire farm. 

What was she going off about?  She had just laid an egg.  So, she was celebrating her results.  In fact, she does this every day without fail. 

We expect chickens to lay eggs.  It is what they do every single day.  Still, this hen took such pride in her chickenness that she made it a habit of sounding off in a grand celebration.   

How irritability starts

The reason I was so grumpy is that my “to-do” list is so full.  Day in and day out, I strive to cross several items off the list. However, farm life is never predictable.  For example, my best laid plans to work in the garden were met with torrential rains.  My effort to complete computer work was met with spotty internet service.  It seems I am always fighting unbearable odds to complete the simplest of tasks.  One too many barriers left me in a foul mood.  But, I could overcome it if I would listen to lessons from my fowl friend.  

Get traction by celebrating wins

Did you notice she was celebrating an ordinary act of laying an egg?  Granted it is not all that ordinary to a human because don’t lay eggs.  However, it is something this chicken was created to do, lay eggs.  She was having a grand party over the basics.  The lesson was so simple yet so profound.  I almost missed it.   It is a lesson about gratitude and celebrating the everyday simple things.

Romans 1:20 says “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Celebrate the simple

God teaches us valuable lessons about his divine nature in the things he has created.  One thing he created is a chicken. And this chicken rejoiced over her chickenness. It makes perfect sense that this chicken taught me that I needed to go back to the basics and rejoice. Further, we are commanded all throughout scripture to rejoice.

As a business owner, dreaming big is a given.  Working on big projects is a part of my daily grind.  Often ,frustrations partner with big projects.  Too much frustration equals stuck.  The way forward is to go back to the basics and celebrate the simple. 

Specifically, I can celebrate waking up, making my bed, brushing my teeth, and folding laundry. Moreover, simply showing up for work when self-employed warrants celebration. 

Gratitude gives us power.  It fosters hope and gives us purpose.  More importantly, it gives us traction. If you stop by the studio and hear a woman cackling like a chicken don’t worry. I am celebrating like Miss Chicken.

What are some simple things you celebrate? Share them in the comments below.

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