Stuck in a moment

I don’t imagine this will cause Bono sleepless nights but I have never really been a fan of the band U2; I have liked a few of their songs over the years and some just lodged permanently, as is the case with most musicians.

This particular thought has been rattling around for a few weeks now in the tin can that is my head; I have been pushing it away as I didn’t particularly want to explore it further.

But today is the day.

A few weeks ago I wrote about a perfect moment,  but today I am forced to face up to the fact that life is comprised of many thousands of imperfect moments. This is not anyone’s fault, there is no one to sue or to blame (for the most part) it is just a symptom of living in a fallen creation with 7 billion other struggling souls.

I don’t know who these four gentlemen had in mind as they penned these lyrics, but in a perfect sweep they have encompassed swathes of humanity.

You’ve got to get yourself together

You’ve got stuck in a moment

And you can’t get out of it

Don’t say that later will be better

Now you’re stuck in a moment

And you can’t get out of it

There are many of us that will never understand the words written here; you have the wonderful ability to simply travel forward without a second of backward thought or reflection. Nothing of the past causes ripples on the calm pond of your forward surge through life; but I tend to think that such people are at a tremendous disadvantage also, if we do not heed or recognise warnings from past mistakes we are destined to repeat them.

Groundhog Day is one of my top ten favourite movies, largely due to the performance of Bill Murray; he was such a selfish forward pushing person until confronted with his own frailties. Being stuck in that moment of time forced him to address what everyone else could see all too clearly. It is interesting that it took so long for his character to admit to his own failings, preferring instead to blame everyone and everything else.

Perhaps it is an age thing that brings us to reflection; would that everyone did pause to reflect on the repercussions of their actions, some never do. For my part I have always been fairly reflective in my outlook and have tended to allow the feelings of others to dictate excessively upon my actions. This has caused times in my life where I was firmly living what the collective U2 minds described above.

For months my mind ruminated over a specific event or conversation with no resolution ever achieved; it often took an external source to offer a piece of advice or alternative perspective to break the deadlock. With the luxury of hindsight I can see that these times of being stuck could have been shortened with clearer thinking or opening up to earlier intervention. What is never helpful is ostrich reactions; I too have tried this pointless method and can unequivocally state that it is useless and is only a delaying of an inevitable need to address issues.

So being stuck is a dual perspective situation, if used to reflect and face issues it is hugely beneficial; if allowed to be a dead weight on my thinking it can anchor me to a negative point in the past and prevent any forward motion whatsoever.

Reading the lyrics again I pictured a ‘me’ standing at the bottom of a hole looking longingly up for a way out; suddenly over the edge came a ladder and an opportunity to escape.

I don’t need Puxatawny Pete to tell me what to do, the next move is mine……….