When Life Is Like Stuck, What Needs To Be Done?

Illustration (Pixabay/Pexels)

JAKARTA - You often see people in novels or movies who feel 'trapped' in situations that do not match their dreams. Stagnant work, cracked relationships, or routines that feel trapped. But in reality, these feelings appear more frequently in everyday life, behind smiling and neat routines.

Launching Psychology Today, Thursday, October 2, many of you are unconscious about making passive choices, in an effort to create 'comfort' in happiness, for fear of stepping into uncertainty.

In modern life, especially in big cities, the boundaries between comfort and cages are sometimes thin. Over time, we can lose contact with ourselves and true values.

One of the important points in the article is that before you can free yourself from feeling 'trapped', you have to realize that it is often you who have chosen to survive.

Not in the sense of blaming, but that living in a comfort zone, even though it hurts, sometimes feels easier than facing uncertainty. By realizing that we have a choice, we open up opportunities for change.

The following steps can help:

Self-examination of the future

Instead of just maintaining the situation today, try to imagine yourself in the next ten or twenty years if nothing changes. Shouldn't regret be a friend in old age? This question can spark the courage to act.

Melakukan eksplorasi kecil, bukan jump ekstrem

You don't need to make drastic decisions overnight. Start with experiment: look for new opportunities, consult professions, look for references to the small changes you can make. This exploration not only provides information, but also frees you from the shadow of negative assumptions that have been limiting your steps.

Looking for external support

When you feel trapped, a natural tendency can be to store your own burden, don't want to bother others or be embarrassed. In fact, talking to friends, family, or professional can reduce psychological burdens and provide a different perspective.

In a lifestyle point of view, feelings of being 'trapped' also often arise as a result of an inconsistent lifestyle: a dominant career, forced relationships, or a social lifestyle that is followed so that it looks "good." How to translate freedom from these traps in everyday life?

A self-aware morning ritual

Start the day with a short meditation, write a journal, or just walk outside. That way you touch the boundary line between there is without thinking and there is awareness.

Supportive social environment selection

Teman atau komunitas yang memberikan ruang mendukung bukan menuntut, dapat memperkuat semangat Anda untuk berubah.

A balance between productivity and rest

Pursuing goals does not mean constantly pressing yourself. Take time to stop, evaluate, and reconnect with the deepest needs.

Feeling trapped is not the end of the story. This is an invitation moment for reflection and shift. By realizing the existence of options, doing gradual exploration, and seeking support, you can turn a closed-door road into a new door to freedom. As stated in the Psychology Today article, 'Stepping into the unknown is always cause... but staying where you are ... is often the greater burden.'