We tend to go through life based on repetition. Every morning you wake up to the same alarm clock sound with the same routine. You get out of bed, let the dogs out, jump in the shower, get dressed, fix your hair, put the dogs up and jump in the car with your morning coffee. As you sip on your jump start for the morning, you join hundreds of other road warriors that are all attempting to get a little peace in their car as they enjoy their coffee and prepare for the day. You get to work and start your same, repetitive job day in and day out with the hope that your somewhat hard work will go noticed and you will receive a raise or bonus at the end of the year. At home, your wife and kids (or just the dogs) are hoping that your hard work pays off so that you can have an enjoyable vacation this year to escape the mindless repetition that provides for your living.
Your entire life is solely dependent upon someone else determining your worth and when times get tough…you are one of the first on the chopping block as the company starts to make cuts. If you are lucky (or you have worked hard enough and produced results that far outweigh your salary), you get to keep the daily life that you have been so accustomed to with the hope that you get a small, cost of living increase at the end of the year. Even if you don’t get that small increase, you don’t complain…why? Because in times like this it is good to have a paycheck that just barely covers the bills at the end of the day and you don’t want to mess that up.
As you sit at your desk in the morning, creating a list of things to do for the day in your head, you sometimes wonder if this is all there is. Is this how we are supposed to live? Are we supposed to go through life just going through the motions praying that 5 o’clock will roll around sooner than yesterday? Are we really going to spend day in and day out of the best years of our lives making someone else rich?
We try not to complain because it could always be worse. We try to focus on the good things that this life has brought us instead of focusing on the bad. Maybe you are working a job you really enjoy…maybe you have a great family at home that makes it all worth it…maybe you see the potential in your current position and it might pay off in the future…maybe you are just happy to have a job. Far too often we use these great things in our lives as excuses and we get stuck. We get stuck in the repetitiveness of life and become scared of breaking that habit.
Break the Repetition and Free Your Life
The challenge for all of us is breaking out of the repetitive nature of life and take that chance. Can you imagine what it would be like if you changed one aspect of your life a week that had become just another part of your routine? You would be able to use that experience to learn and grow to become a better, happier person. Do you really want to be doing the same thing day in and day out with the hope that things will be better in the future, or do you want to start making the changes now? Why wait for someone else to bring you what you want out of life? If you are waiting for someone else to do their part, you are going to be waiting a REALLY LONG TIME. The time is now to stretch what you consider normal.
The #1 difference between successful and non-successful people (does not have to be monetary value) is that they were willing to take that step outside of their repetitive complacent lives. Are you?
Arms stretched picture by Jill Greenseth.