Looking to Betty White to Get Moving Again
Lindsey Lohan is still stuck. Charlie Sheen, definitely, incredibly stuck. Sandra Bullock, unstuck. Betty White – never, ever seemed stuck. I like Betty White. I like her because she is funny and I grew up watching her on Mary Tyler Moore and The Golden Girls. But I also like her because she always seems to move forward. She has seemingly embraced aging, continues to play varied roles and most importantly, stays relevant. In fact, during the last year or so her popularity is bigger and better than ever. She was the oldest person last year to host Saturday Night Live (after a Facebook campaign where 500,000 people helped make it happen). Her new show, Hot in Cleveland is, well, hot.
How does Betty keep going forward and not get stuck? Some people are just better at it than others. They constantly reinvent themselves and do new things. Madonna is another great example (whether you like her or not). Hillary Clinton comes to mind as well. These women and many others that I’ve actually met in my lifetime, continue to forge ahead, make changes and keep moving.
But what about the rest of us?
Most of us are likely to feel like we’re in a rut here and there, sticking to the same routines, patterns and feeling like we need to shake things up. Let’s face it: leaving our comfort zone is just not that comfortable! In my opinion, this feeling increases as we get older and the “stickiness” can be felt professionally, personally or in both areas of your life.
“Everyone gets paralyzed at certain junctures of their lives,” says Dr. Rita Bigel-Casher, a leading psychotherapist and coach. People have a tendency to do the same thing over and over again even though intellectually or emotionally they know they should try new things and change things up a bit. And Bigel-Casher is not just talking about breaking out of a “bad” mood; she is also talking about major hurdles like kicking a bad habit, losing 50 pounds or facing a fear. “Small steps sometimes can move you forward and give you the confidence to tackle the big things or the big fears,” she explained. “Sometimes you have to take it one step at a time and sometimes just making small changes can give you the impetus to shake things up.”
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