Breaking Out of a Rut

Ever find yourself stuckin a rut?  Do you even know what a rutis?  According to the first definition inWebster's Dictionary, it is - a state orperiod of sexual excitement, especially in a male deer.  However, that's not the definition I'm aimingfor with the blog post.  It's the seconddefinition which Merriam indicates to which I refer - A track work by wheels or by habitual passage of something; a usual orfixed routine; a ditch with no end.
Every writer, or evenregular folk for that matter, at one time or another finds themselves in a rut;a place where we are mired in the same state of being, whether it be physical,emotional or spiritual.  We were notcreated to remain in the same state.  We,humans, were made to be in a constant state of transition; change.  This is first evident in our physical bodiesfrom the time of conception.  Our bodiesare in a continual state of growth, cells working their little butts off multiplying,growing and giving life to our bodies. That is until we reach the point of maturity, usually around the age oftwenty-five to thirty, and then amazingly, we begin to slowly die.  Our cells go from multiplying todividing.  YET, we are still in acontinual state of change.  We are eithergrowing or dying.  I have yet to meetsomeone exactly the same physically after a period of time.  No matter how smart you think you are, no onehas found that fountain of youth, and we're all subject to the same naturallaws of life and death.
On an emotional scale, ifyou're anything like me, we can change in a split second depending on whatevercircumstances we find ourselves mired. We can be happy, sad, angry, frustrated, hopeful, afraid, delighted andeager … all at the same time. (At least women possess this super power.)  Too often, I believe we are guided by ouremotions, instead of our reasoning, and these emotional tendencies not dealtwith, most often lead to emotional ruts. We keep dealing with the same things over, and over, and over. We shouldbe learning, adapting and overcoming some of the emotional ruts in our lives,but many times they're allowed to handicap us and keep us from evolving, especiallyin our gifts – like writing.  Even here,in the emotional realm, we are either growing or learning, or we're dying andretreating.  We should be vigilant toincrease our knowledge.
The last scale, thespiritual one, is also the same as the physical and the emotional.  We are either growing spiritually or dying,but we're always in a continual state of movement.  But, let's apply this concept to our gift ofwriting.  If we find ourselves in awriting rut, we are dying in our gift. It is up to us, to modify our behavior, and stimulate the gift withinus, spurring it into a state of growth.  Wemay not always be in the process of writing the next great novel, or working ona thesis that will change the world, or bring about peace, but we should alwaysbe sharpening the tools we have been given, which should be 'writing'.  It doesn't matter what you write, just write somethingevery day, whether it is one line, one paragraph or one chapter.  Write a blog post, a poem, a letter toyourself or a friend, a note of encouragement, a to-do list.  
When you put pen to paper(or perhaps fingertips to keyboard) and you find yourself stuck in a rut,remind yourself your gift is either living or dying.  The next step you take will be up to you.  Whether it lives or dies – it's all in yourhands - literally. What's your choice? If you choose to spurn your gift to life, you may just find the firstdefinition of a rut in some fashion of manifestation. Maybe ... I haven't had achance to study that particular theory.