Sure, there are times that we feel “up a creek without a paddle,” but more often the reality is that we do have the paddle in hand, or at least in the boat, and we just have to summon the strength to keep paddling.
What sustains you when the paddling gets hard?
It helps to try to get outside of your ego to the extent that you try to determine whether you are trying to do the right thing in the first place. Then the “Our Father” always helps.
The knowledge that if I don’t, the mess that is my life will just get worse.