Life is full of surprises. Some of them are amazing and others can leave us shell-shocked. But if we aren’t careful, we can get stuck in a rut of solving a stream of seemingly never-ending problems. Then instead of living our lives we get side-swiped by them. It’s easy to get ensnared in a web of endless fixing and adjusting and push or procrastinate what brings us joy and contentment into a perfect future that doesn’t really exist. When we get stuck in this kind of rut, we forget what it’s like to be drama free or at the very least appreciative of the what and what-nots of our lives. We forget to relax and reassure ourselves that everything will work out just fine. I am here to remind you that indeed it will.
Always being caught up in the difficulties of life can be intoxicating, especially when we’ve been successful at navigating adversity in the past. But forgetting to come back into balance and being content with what’s actually going well and bringing us happiness can lead us into an energetic dead-end and a heap of trouble. It’s impossible to feed our soul what it needs when we’re constantly depleted or always putting out another fire. You may not believe it, but the truth is we can learn our lessons through joy just as easily as we can learn them through suffering. They’re simply different angles of viewing the same thing and we get to choose which side we’ll take. Choosing joy may seem like a no-brainer but we often hesitate and believe it’s not possible or perhaps just too good to be true, better to just suffer through.
Like I said we get stuck in these ruts, and it can be challenging, to say the least, to move into a different groove. But just like any other habit we’ve cultivated we need to practice. Keeping ourselves swamped, overextended and in our head overthinking, overscheduling, or over-solving blocks the simple joys and stops us from flying free. Just because we are at the center of the storm doesn’t necessarily mean we’re fixing anything, just as laying in a hammock watching the clouds couldn’t hurt anything. Although we may not always get to pick the what of our lives, we can choose the how.
All of these trying situations are never mended or made right by worrying and panicking. And in the middle of all that anguish we keep missing the one thing we always seem to be longing for, peace. It is up to each of us to be the bringers of more peace. There are enough people freaking out and running ragged, we don’t have to join the chorus and add to the problem. Remember, we’re trying to get out of the rut of suffering and sorrow, not ingrain it more deeply. But it’s up to us to alter our approach. Only we can change whether we’re run over by out-of-control feelings and tense situations or collect ourselves and try something different. It’s these choices that decide whether we’re going to live ecstatically or stay chained to the drama.
It’s important to remember that what we choose doesn’t hinge on someone else and their actions, where we live, or what we own. Bravely begin to draw a firmer boundary, ask a little bit more of yourself. Only you can decide how you’re going to live your life and whether you’ll choose to cultivate greater peace, love, and happiness. But I can tell you this, the world certainly needs more of it.
Are you ready to step out of your old ruts?
kb
