Do you ever find yourself doing things because that’s the way they’ve always been done? Because that’s how you were trained (either for a job or for life). Because when you moved in, your spouse, partner, BFF already had the ugly couch in front of the window, and even though you couldn’t actually open the window with the couch in front of it–you never considered just moving the flipping couch.
We get comfortable with inefficiencies and redundancies AND we live with mediocrity BECAUSE it’s how we’ve been trained, whether by ourselves or by someone else.
We have made our lives a bad habit, one, we’re probably not aware of, which is just another way of saying:
Our life might be in a rut.
So, how the heck do you get out of a rut you don’t know you’re in? Good question. My mom–the imitable Joan Kennedy — suggests trying something small, like sitting in a different chair in the evening, then she laughs, because folks get prrretty up in arms about a different chair.
Try something new.
I know I look at my house differently when I’ve invited people over–uh, do we need this invitation taped to the frig from LAST SUMMER? Huh…look at that, there are crumbs on the back of the couch. Is there a way to look at your life in the same way? Maybe just being aware, open yourself up to questions.
How you go about your day is how you go about your life.
This is a work in progress for me. I am (trying) to add good habits in the place of same-old, same-old ruts. Exercise and meditation instead of vegging out with Netflix. I’m not perfect, sometimes I veg, but I don’t let it defeat me either, the next day it’s back to exercise… The difference between a good habit and a rut is movement–a good habit moves you forward toward a goal, a rut keeps you solidly in place.
Where do you want to be?
