“I’m stuck between wanting to do something, and nothing at all.” This might sound familiar not only because this is a quote by Jennifer Lawrence in the recent film, “Die, My Love,” but also the anthem for almost every human at one point or another. I know it sounds so un profound or obvious like saying, ” Well you either go left or right,” (ummm duh..), but I haven’t stumbled upon something so relatable in a while because it applies to almost every area of my life.
I often reflect on my twenties because I went through all the major milestones you’re told are important in life; I graduated college at 22, started dating my now husband around that same time, and biggest of all I got engaged, married, graduated from grad school, and landed my first major career job at the young age of 24. I had my first child at 29 and then my second at 30, in the midst of the pandemic. I mean, wow I feel like my whole life happened in that decade. Which is why fast forward to today a month into the freshly new 2026, I am 36 years old and I’m wondering- Now what?
Society encourages you to accomplish major milestones, and romantic comedies tend to end when the couple finally gets together, but what about the after? After riding the high of accomplishment after accomplishment it’s not so easy to function in the mundane, which is most of your life. For me after a decade long high in my 20’s, over the years I have felt that excitement for life fizzling out, and I want so bad to have that feeling back. But how do you balance that as a spouse and parent? Honestly, part of me feels detached from those roles, and I don’t want to be another housewife/ mom cliche who finds meaning in blogging; I want more. I want more and yet I lack direction, which leaves me feeling one of the worse feelings anyone can feel, the one that kills the soul slowly, and is the foundation of many movie and book plotlines: stuck.
|”It’s human nature, and whether we can admit it or not, we all can feel unfulfilled by the things we were led to believe would never stop filling us up.”|
“Stuck” is the culprit of lethargy, fatigue, procrastination, deferment, affairs, addiction, relapse, binge eating, depression, to name but a few afflictions. To an extent I have struggled with all of the above, not because I am a bad, lazy, selfish person, but because I want to feel excitement and passion and purpose about my life again! And when the things I achieved no longer brought me those feelings of passion and purpose, I looked for instant dopamine hits that could give me that high again. It’s human nature, and whether we can admit it or not, we all can feel unfulfilled by the things we were led to believe would never stop filling us up. Unfortunately, this feeling of unfulfillment tends to lead to guilt.
Like most great stories and movies, this is the pivotal point where I come in with the upside, the solution….
I don’t have one. Because there’s no one solution, no one size fits all. Something I am learning however, is when I’m feeling unfulfilled in one or multiple areas of my life, I tend to go toward a past behavior for fulfillment. It’s so hard not to because it’s familiar and comfortable, and unfortunately that trumps the fact that it’s bad for me. This behavior can look like binge eating, drinking alcohol, or seeking out male attention because you want to feel like more than just another wife with kids. Now, I’m trying to redirect my energy into something that can actually make me feel purpose, like my writing. I know it won’t fix things overnight, but I’m going to try to be more consistent with it and turn it into something important. At least that is my goal for 2026.
What about you?
Are you feeling stuck or unfulfilled? Are you defaulting to blaming your relationships, work, or something else? Are those the areas that you truly feel stuck in? It very well could be. Or is there something deeper going on? Truly only you can answer these questions because this will look different for everyone and there’s not one correct solution.
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As always, keep pressing on,
– Amanda
