Are we creatures of habit? I’m sure some reading this will answer in the affirmative. I’m sure some reading this easily recognize within themselves the comfortability of the same routine. Many people don’t like change and are resistant to it when it rears it’s ugly, and inevitable head. I happen to accept it whenever it occurs, but I’m also on the inside track because I know it will always occur. Sometimes though, we have to willfully break the routine. Sometimes we just crave...something different.
Although better is preferable when making certain changes, better is not always possible. Sometimes different is just enough to breath new life into us...and give us a sense of refreshment. When I was younger, I never understood why sometimes I would see people, when making a decision on what to wear, or what to eat, or what to buy....say “I’d like to just try something different,” and make a choice with that being the only guideline. Now that I’m older (probably old to some) I understand that urge. I understand the curiosity. I understand the excitement of the challenge to take oneself out of the comfort zone.
There are probably many reasons why any one of us would seek the sensation of “different”...but probably the biggest reason is complacency. Complacency is that ugly word, that smooth criminal, moving silently into every facet of our lives...without our notice, until we’ve been wrapped in it’s web for longer than we can remember.
It’s in our job, where we aspired to do greater things than we have done thus far, but got comfortable with the situation. Much time has passed before we realize that mundane is scrapping that spot behind our eyes...clawing at us to make a change. We transfer, change positions...get a new job. We make a change because it’s time for something different. If we never answer the call...if we ignore the signs or become so blunt that the sharp edge of complacency can’t be felt...we might end up dismissed or terminated, without ever realizing the true reason why change has come in such an unwelcome fashion.
Complacency comes to visit us at home...in our relationships. There is probably not a more unwelcome place to be for the silent stalker. There is probably no other place where it produces so much turmoil and causes so much damage if we don’t properly recognize it for what it is. It’s that voice in the back of the head rationalizing a wrong action into a right reason. It’s that feeling that creeps up offering excitement with a change from the outside...instead of a change from within. It’s the gloss over the everyday interaction with our chosen one, that makes us obtuse to the small details, instead of meticulous with every moment. It’s the root of the routine, in an area where being routine is detrimental to our long term goals.
Ever wonder how two people simply grow apart? Ever stop to contemplate what being bored in a relationship really means? Ever wonder where the excitement went...after its gone? Round up the usual suspect...complacency. I can hear some of you now...”Whoa, waitaminute. I’m not complacent, I’m full of spontaneity. How do you explain me?” Simple human nature. That drive and spark that has led the way to where humanity is now. That idea that says you can build a mouse trap...and keeps coming back to convince you that can build a better one.
We were not meant to stagnate and be placated. No...I think we were meant to thrive, to push our boundaries, to ask hard questions that result in harder choices, to not always let change be an effect upon us...but become a cause for effective change. Complacency is our quiet reminder that we need to be active participants in our story, not just the narrator. That the story needs to enthrall us and capture our imagination...even as we imagine our way out of the prison of mediocrity.
Sometimes...we simply want to experience something different...and that is an elevating human condition, if we wish it to be.
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