"The only thing that is truly constant in our lives, is CHANGE."
: Who Moved MY Cheese
As we take this journey in life, we sometimes come to those vistas where we like how things are... It works... and we would like to stay for a while. So we settle in and make plans to stay awhile. Time goes by and we slowly begin to build a wall around our new found comfort zone. All in the effort to protect it and ensure that it will last... Meanwhile this world moves on, and we failed to remember that God has things in store for each of us. Yet, we are in this little comfort zone, that makes us feel safe. We are typically unwilling to accept change, because it threatens that feeling of safety which comes from the predictable,..the expected,..and keeping things "the same". If God is going to get us to where He wants us to be, then He has got to keep us moving. This requires change! We are all so afraid of change, yet we should be more afraid of staying the same. This is self imposed damnation. To be damned, is to stop progression. How often do we participate in our own damnation as apposed our own progression!?! If this life is about experiences and progression, then we must learn to be open and accept change. Those vistas in life that we reach...? Yes, we can stay for a short while. Yet if we stay too long, then those vistas only become plateaus, and in the end hold us back from progression.
Stay open and nimble in life! There is so much ahead, if we will only be willing to eagerly embrace the unknown! The amazing part is that other doors DO open, and life DOES go on when we decide to leave life's vistas turned plateaus. You'll find the way! Trust God, and also trust YOURSELF...You are one in the same.
Very Well Said!
ReplyDeleteI think that plateaus can be very destructive. What people don’t realize, is when they are happy with the predictable while on their little plateau, life is still going to happen whether they embrace change or not. Life is eventually going to KNOCK them off of their comfortable plateau and they will be ill-equipped to handle it. It is very difficult for a person to bounce back from such a thing. Not embracing change is equal to not pursuing God; both will dig you a hole nearly impossible climb out of.
When I first started running I was so excited the day I ran that first mile without stopping but I only reveled in that excitement for about a week... I had to go for 2 and then 3... Change is hard at times, but it is also a MUST if we want to accomplish anything in life! Thanks for the reminder!!!
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe that I am awake at 3 a.m. tossing and turning. My 35th birthday is this week and I am taking stock in my progression in self mastery. My usual “go to” in this type of situation is to read a book. I have read three in three days, I need something a little shorter than 400 pages if I want to fall back to sleep. Ah, the Matthew Reese Blog, thought provoking and beautifully short. I decide to greet the day and watch the sunrise as I contemplate the changes in my life.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time that I hated change but as I have gotten older I have learned to embrace it. Why fight the inevitable? Isn’t all about perspective and attitude anyway? The beauty of moving away from comfort zones is that it is where you find that inner strength that you didn’t know you had. It’s a great adrenaline rush to start on a new path.
It’s fun to observe the friends that surround me and listen to their thoughts on various subjects. Lately it is this very topic. One friend in particular comes to me and says that he is tired of not quite making the money his friends are making in their chiropractic and acupuncture practice. They work less hours and see more patients. We have talked a great deal about this over the last six years. I keep telling him he needs to let his assistant go. In a business that revolves around others energy you need someone that has positive energy. She is not that person. He will always be stuck unless that changes. I have seen dozens of his power lifting trophies, 32 years of notebooks filled with is gym routines, watched as he measures his food, and plan his work outs for a month so that he is where he wants to be in a given time frame. So it isn’t as though he knows nothing about progress and goals. My second piece of advice was simple. Treat your practice like the gym and your workouts. Attack it with the same passion. It’s not like he doesn’t thoroughly enjoy what he does. Lastly, reword the term “work” into something more positive. Work can have such a negative feeling, it can sound daunting. I would much rather get up in the morning and say “I get to help people and change their lives today” than say “I have to work today.”
For me there is a difference in happiness and contentment. Happiness is self-acceptance. Contentment is allowing the situations in life to remain the same out of fear to change them. I don’t do content very well. It’s the lack of having a new goal once one is reached.
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them, that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” Lao Tzu