I was working on a business assignment today and got stuck. Kinda like this truck we saw on the side of the Forest Service road last weekend – spinning its wheels in a giant ditch, going nowhere. It wasn’t on the gravel anymore, and it hadn’t made it to the campsite.
Normally when I get stuck, I tend to act like the truck. Revving faster and harder, trying to think my way through to an idea or solution.
Today I remembered the idea of the Wonder Question (see this interview with the wonderful Gay Hendricks) and I paused before pressing the gas. There are three pieces to a good wonder question:
- You don’t know the answer to this question
- You really want to know the answer
- Knowing the answer will change your life for the better
It also helps to start with a good “Hmmmm….”
So I said to myself, “Hmmm, I wonder…what is the mission of my massage business?”
I bounced around the room, wondering, and something came up. Just bubbled up from within me, without any struggle. “My mission is to cultivate a childlike ease, pleasure, and authenticity of movement in my clients.” Yum!
Try wondering about something you’re struggling with — How can I feel less tension in my shoulders? How can I sit with less pain my hip? — and notice if your body has any ideas.
By the time we were driving home (6 hours and 4,000 feet later), the truck was back on the road. Looks like a buddy came to help him out of the ditch.
