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\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 On March 18, 1980, a young historian named Marty Sherwin, then age 43, signed a contract with Knopf publishing to write a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb. \\xa0When Marty Sherwin signed the deal, both he and the publishing house expected that it would be a five-year project.\\xa0 He was to get paid $70,000, $35,000 up front, and the remainder five years later when the book was to have been completed.\\xa0

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But, famously, five years later, he had not completed the book. In fact, five years later, he had not even started writing it. Marty Sherwin was a meticulous researcher, and he found himself in a rabbit hole.\\xa0 He would spend twenty years doing research on Oppenheimer.\\xa0 His research came to 50,000 pages of original sources, including 8,000 pages of FBI records.\\xa0 There were more than 100 records of interviews.\\xa0

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 So for twenty years, Marty Sherwin accumulated box after box of material.\\xa0 Boxes in his attic. Boxes in his basement.\\xa0 Boxes in his office.\\xa0\\xa0

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 There was just one thing he did not do.\\xa0 He did not start writing.\\xa0 The book that was to have been completed in five years was still not started twenty years later.\\xa0 At first it became a running joke in his family.\\xa0 Marty Sherwin\\u2019s son Alex recalled that when he was growing up, \\xa0his father would say to him: \\u201cAlex, do your homework.\\u201d\\xa0 To which Alex would say: \\u201cDad, write\\xa0your book.\\u201d

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 But as the years went on, it got less funny.\\xa0 Sherwin told his wife I am going to die without ever writing this book.\\xa0 Put the epitaph on my tombstone:\\xa0 researched but did not write the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 In a word, Marty Sherwin was stuck. S-T-U-C-K. Stuck.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Most of us are not stuck in the way Marty Sherwin was stuck.\\xa0\\xa0 But who among us has\\xa0not been stuck in our own way?

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 We are stuck in a job we don\\u2019t love, but we can\\u2019t figure out how to get out of it and what to do next.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 We are stuck with our children.\\xa0 Little kids, little problems. Bigger kids, bigger problems, and often it is hard to talk about what really matters, so we let stuff go.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 We are stuck in our marriage, okay, not great.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 We are stuck financially, still worrying about inflow and outflow.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 We are stuck emotionally, walking around with entirely too much worry and too many dark clouds.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 We are stuck spiritually, another Rosh Hashanah, and the nagging question, have we grown Jewishly?

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 Our neshamah, our soul, our morale, our inner life, are all too often stuck in neutral.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 If a goal of our life is to thrive, to live our best life now, in too many areas of our life, we are not doing that. In too many areas, we are stuck.

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 How do we get unstuck?\\xa0 We can learn from Marty Sherwin\\u2019s story how we can get unstuck.\\xa0

\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0 The first move is to get help

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