A group of intrepid explorers is trudging through the jungle and suddenly they can’t move. Looking down they see their feet are sinking into the ground and so they begin to struggle to find a way to pull themselves out of the trap: quicksand! It’s an old adventure movie trope. Though it’s been seen countless times on film, nobody really dies from quicksand. It does exist. Though your legs may disappear into the muck, because quicksand is denser than the human body, you’ll actually end up floating on the surface of it instead of sinking to your death.[1]
Quicksand is one of a number of movie tricks that preys on our common anxieties. The rickety rope bridge over the gorge reminds us of our fear of falling. The building on fire brings out our fear of being burned. And quicksand is a vivid mind picture of our fear of getting stuck. Cleithrophobia is the fear of being trapped, unable to get out of a room or other space. But many of us experience an unnamed phobia, the fear of being unable to move forward—in life, work, marriage, relationships, decisions, whatever. The prospect of change immobilizes us. We just can’t seem to find the confidence to get unstuck.
Quicksand was a common movie gag for years, combining unexpected peril and a time limit—do something quickly or die!
Quicksand is also a great plot device because of the time limit. Good heavens! We’re sinking! Will we escape before time runs out? And this, too, plays on our emotions. When stuck, leaders feel pressed to make something happen now. Before it’s too late. Before the opportunity is missed. Today quicksand is a literary metaphor, an expression of entanglement. The Afghanistan War was described as a “quagmire” on the nightly news. The economy is “sinking”. The culture is a “jungle”. Daniel Engber of Slate writes, “Could all these anxieties be related? Might our fascination with quicksand reflect some more singular preoccupation—a broad cultural reckoning, even—with ambivalence and instability?”[2] In other words, do these quicksand phrases reveal that many in our society are afraid of getting stuck?
The comfort of the status quo. Leaders don’t intend to get stuck. Most of the time it happens because of the warm embrace of predictability. That status quo is a type of cognitive bias. In general we prefer that things stay as they are, and that preference can have an effect on our behavior. This bias makes us generally averse to change, and to perceive change first as a loss or to our detriment.
The term “status quo bias” was first introduced by researchers William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser in 1988. In a series of controlled experiments, Samuelson and Zeckhauser found that people show a disproportionate preference for choices that maintain the status quo. Participants were asked a variety of questions in which they had to take the role of the decision-maker for situations faced by individuals, managers, and government officials. Based on the results, the research showed a strong status quo bias in the responses. When making an important choice, people are more likely to pick the option that maintains things as they are currently.[3]
Do you believe you are stuck in your job? Stuck in an unfulfilling marriage? Stuck in your financial situation? Stuck in a difficult or uncontrollable circumstance? Often you feel stuck because of our own inaction. You keep to the status quo even though you don’t like it, because it is predictable. Then when things get bad enough that you do want change, you find you’re so far down a path that you now can’t see any possibility of change. And so you’re stuck.
Real quicksand is a boggy muck that you can get stuck in, but easily find your way out.
Getting unstuck. Just like the intrepid explorers of the silver screen who walked into quicksand, getting unstuck relies on two things. First, stop moving and relax, and second, grab a hold of something to help pull you out. The stop moving part is straightforward—take a pause in your thoughts and actions. Give yourself time to reflect, to look at your situation, and to pray about what God may want you to do next. Stuck people who want to get unstuck must first avoid panic. Philippians 4:6-7 instructs, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” This is the first indication that, however you may be stuck, getting unstuck is a spiritual process.
Now to the second part—grabbing hold of something. In quicksand you’ll grab that tree branch overhead to pull yourself out. In life, consider how the Bible, the Word of God, gives us handles of teaching to hold on to that will help us move forward. Scripture has much to teach on getting unstuck.
Let go of the past. Proverbs 4:25-27 says, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” In order to move forward in life and leadership, the first step is to let go. Author C.S. Lewis put it this way: “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” What a clear word-picture if you’ve ever been on a playground—moving across the monkey bars requires you to be constantly letting go and reaching forward to the next bar. Letting go of the past can be difficult. The best way to do this, as Proverbs reminds us, is to focus on something ahead. The more persistently you “fix your gaze” on what is in front of you, the more you allow the past to fade into the distance.
Find hope. Hope is defined as “an expectation or desire that something is going to happen”. When a leader is stuck, the situation can seem hopeless because the expectation is that things will stay the same. When we trust God, we can have hope that He will use that trust to guide us forward. Proverbs 3:5 reminds us “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
How do you trust in God? It means that you believe what He says about Himself and the world around you are true and unchangeable. Trusting is not a feeling, but rather a choice. The Bible repeatedly tells us that God is trustworthy and keeps His promises. The more you choose to trust that what God says is true, the greater the hope you have in what He has in store in the future. Trust in God creates an expectation that something is going to happen—hope!
Change perspective. When you’re stuck, using the quicksand illustration, maybe help is a rock to stand on just three feet away, or someone who is walking a path and five minutes from the bog. But in order to see those solutions, you’d have to change perspective—have a different viewpoint. Lack of perspective is what makes being stuck so miserable. You can’t see a way out. But spiritually there is a means to change perspective.
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” This is the Apostle Paul’s way of saying, “Look at the bigger picture.” You can do this by flipping the questions you have as a leader who is stuck. Instead of asking, “Why can’t I get out?” consider, “What can I accomplish from here?” Or instead of lamenting, “How much worse can it get?” change to, “What is a way I can make things better?” Another means of changing perspective is to practice gratitude. How can you be thankful for the situation you are stuck in? What blessing are you experiencing in some area of life and leadership that you can still acknowledge while being “stuck”?
Start small. Leaders sometimes look for big leaps in their decision-making. Jesus has an interesting take on this in Luke 10:25-37. When a man asks Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” the man answers, in part, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Then Jesus goes on to ask, “And who is my neighbor?” The story of the Good Samaritan is a lesson in doing the thing that is right in front of you. In the parable, as people passed by a man who had been beaten and robbed, it was the one who stopped and showed mercy that won the day. Notice in the story that the Samaritan didn’t go off and start a nonprofit for victims of robbery. Nor did he dedicate his entire life to aiding people on the side of the road. He simply did the right thing for the situation he was confronted with.
In getting unstuck, don’t overlook simple, straightforward, and small moves that can be right in front of you. Like building a relationship with a friend or mentor. Or beginning a daily time in prayer and Bible study. Or taking a class to learn a new skill. Or helping a person in need on the side of the road. Any of these small things may lead to the next thing—and they all have one thing in common, which is they are a change, however small, from what you are doing or not doing now.
Are you stuck, really? The more you apply spiritual principles to getting “unstuck”, the more you may realize that you are not really stuck at all. Hebrews 12:1-2 are powerful words for living unstuck: “Therefore… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”[4] Here’s all the stuck language in one place—throwing off hindrances and entanglements, fixing our eyes (let go of the past, change perspective), run with perseverance (start small), the perfecter of faith (hope).[5]
That trash compactor scene in Star Wars? Just the old quicksand gag updated, and among the last times the fear of “getting stuck” is found in a major movie.
But that last sentence gives us the reason to know we are not stuck. “For the joy set before him He endured the cross…” Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we have hope for eternity with Him in heaven. Spiritually we have a means to be unstuck. And if we are spiritually not stuck because of Christ, then in faith we can move forward in other areas of life too. When you apply faith, prayer and trust in God to your work, your marriage, your children, your finances, your circumstances, you will find hope and a path to safety from the quicksand and quagmire that is before you.
[1] https://www.britannica.com/story/how-deadly-is-quicksand
[2] http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/08/terra_infirma.html
[3] Samuelson W, Zeckhauser R. Status quo bias in decision making. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. 1988; 1:7-59.
[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/nivac-sample/Heb.12.1-Heb.12.2
[5] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/hebrews-12/