Do you ever feel stuck, like your life is not moving forward, like you are standing still, motionless? I do! Lately it feels like my energy is blocked, that my business is not moving forward or in any direction at all. Instead of seeking answers, maybe I need to live in the questions for now. One of my favorite poets, Rilke addresses this in one of his quotes.
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke
How can I love the questions and not be constantly looking for the answers? What is the question waiting to emerge? How can I live in the question today? I am going to take Rilke’s advice and practice patience and trust that the answers will come when the time is right.
What about you? Do you ever feel stuck in the minutia of your life? If yes, how can you practice acceptance that you are exactly where you need to be in this moment? How can living in the question be helpful to you?
I invite you to explore how journal writing can help you to live in the question. Join me at my September 10 retreat, “The Journey to Self Knowledge through Journal Writing.” Please visit my website for details. http://nancyjambor.com/events/
Thanks for your insightful comments Nanette! I like what you said about stuck turning into wonder, exploration and I will add one more, curiosity. I really enjoy getting curious, exploring and wondering. There’s a playfulness about it that speaks to me. We are all on a quest aren’t we Nanette? Being a life long learner, this is definitely true for me:)
I’ve come to believe this is an age thing. Men have the purported seven year itch, we women seem to seek a new calling as we mature. It starts as stuck but morphs to wonder and exploration if we let it. Questions pondered over time can reveal some surprising answers. Good luck in your quest, Nancy. I’m not sure it ever ends once you look at life through different eyes.
I love that Rilke admonishment. And I think you’ve got a good strategy in place. I’ve certainly been in that stuck place. I tend to think of it as part of the rhythmic cycle, and something we all experience. But it seems to me it’s always a time to be gentle with yourself. We’re in that between place where things that once excited us have fallen away and the new things haven’t show up yet. We can’t force something, but opening to questions is certainly a way to stay in the receptive mode.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments Deborah. I agree with you, it’s a cycle and patience is key. Also, getting curious about what’s available to me when I live in the questions. I’m going to noodle that one:)