The difference between being grounded and being stuck

Could you use a little quiet forest time today? There's evidence that trees are good for people, but you probably don't need a study to tell you that walking in the woods can help you calm the noise in your head and begin to find space to move and to breathe.

Language is funny. Running and stuck seem to be opposites. In life, they are more like team-mates. Running holds you down while stuck jumps on you. The faster you move the smaller the intervals in which change is possible.

The solution is not to stop. Stopping is terrifying when you are already stuck. It sets off alarm bells that make it hard to think. The solution is to set yourself up for slowing down. That means walking instead of driving so that your muscles and your breath adjust. It means finding some trees and allowing them into your consciousness just enough to make space between the thoughts.

All of your time belongs to you. You may choose to give it to something or to rent it to something else. But you still own it. And it keeps on moving. The one certain thing in life is that it's not possible to stay stuck: even if you don't change consciously, your cells will continue to be replaced, your body will age, and the world will change around you. If you run too fast or too far, you will fall down.

The trees understand the difference between being grounded and being stuck. If you hang around with them for awhile, you will, too.

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