We all have moments when it feels like we’re taking two steps forward and one step back. It’s a natural state of ebb and flow. For the most part, though, we should always feel like we are making progress. When we think we’re standing still despite all our efforts, we might have to recognize that we have hit a spiritual brick wall.

Athletes sometimes hit a plateau in their training. The things that usually work to keep them going are less effective, and their chances of achieving their goals lessen daily. In spiritual terms, the experience is the same. No matter what you do, you can’t make real progress with anything you’re working on. It feels like you’ve stalled, and the energy around you is stagnant.

I don’t know what athletes do, but from a spiritual perspective, we can try something different. We are creatures of habit. We like to do the same things over and over. We like patterns, but what happens if we do everything we used to do to help us get past something, and it’s not enough? Some of us keep doing the same things, thinking that if we try just one more time, it will work. We use this thought process for many things, and sometimes it works temporarily. However, when we do things repeatedly, how often will we try something before giving up and trying something else? For some of us, that number is high. In the meantime, no progress is made, and frustration builds.

Keeping an open mind and an open heart is crucial in these times. It creates the space for the universe to help us get past the wall. We also have to keep our expectations in check as to what we think will work. Often the solution may come in the form of a person, place, or thing we weren’t expecting. Having a strong expectation that the resolution to the problem can only come through a particular avenue could delay the process.

Think of it as if you were driving to a destination in a car. Your phone has it all mapped out. That is how you will get there. On your way, there is road construction. Does that mean you stop the car, give up, turn around, and go home? For some, that answer is yes. They accept that they will never get where they’re going, tell themselves whatever story they want to about it, and go home. The story they tell themselves could be that if someone else wasn’t in their way, they could have achieved it. They tell themselves they were not meant to be there or didn’t deserve to be there. The story is good enough to justify not achieving what they set out to do.

Are you different? Do you see yourself as someone who will barrel through no matter what? If so, what do you do when toughing it out doesn’t work? Regardless of your standard way of doing things, we all find ourselves hitting the wall, and no matter what we do, we can’t seem to get going. Now is the time to shift gears. If you barrel through things, try allowing instead. It’s a process of slowing down, letting things be however they are, and being okay with it. It might be messy, unfinished, or not where you hoped it would be, but it is where it needs to be for now. Be okay with however it is for right now, with the understanding that it will not be that way forever. It will change. It may change faster if given the room to do it.

If you usually allow things to happen in their own time and haven’t made progress, switching gears for you would be to actively put some effort into it. That could mean talking to someone about it, asking questions, or researching the subject to gain more wisdom to get it moving again.

We must be willing to change how we approach things to continue making progress. Balance is required to make things work to the best advantage. Getting out of the rut takes energy, but often less than we think. The walls we have are of our own making. We are more than capable of bringing them down. Even if you don’t know what to do, do something you usually wouldn’t do. It will change the energy around it and could be the boost you need to get past the wall or bring it down enough for you to scramble over it.