Comfortable Ruts

Comfort comes in the shape of familiar things, old comfy slippers, a favorite chair, or pillow, even a raggedy old sweatshirt. Babies do best when they know what to expect from their mothers, even if it is a sharp smack and loud words. The status quo is such a prized idea that we are hard wired to maintain and defend it.

Discipline is also a highly prized trait that is often well rewarded. How many times does it pay off when I doggedly continue to stick to my plan through thick and thin, on good days and bad, when I'm tired, or sick, through rain, or shine? Discipline helps me find and keep that status quo. It makes me feel like I am in control.

I do the same things day after day because I know they are the "right" things and eventually I wear myself into a comfortable rut where it is not necessary to expend any energy to rethink what I am doing, because I have done it so long.

Or so I think, but the truth is that things do change, whether I notice, or not. For one thing it is only possible to expend a tremendous amount of energy for so long before I must back off a bit. What I do then may slowly become incorporated into this glorious rut I am so comfortable with. Now, all the good intentions that got me here have been altered just a bit, but that alteration was so slow that I am still in my comfort zone and never notice.

It is not until things become uncomfortable that I realize they have gone down hill. Consciously changing that is much more difficult that the gentle slide that started it all. It requires stepping out of the comfort zone and getting a good grip on things before I begin to fill in the cracks and crevices that have slowly eroded all those good intentions

It's possible. I know that, because I've done it all before, but it isn't easy, especially at first. I'm not sure it is supposed to be. Life is a challenge from the get go. I struggled to leave the womb, suffered into my first teeth, survived the maturation of my teen years and raced into adulthood with a sense of curiosity and excitement that made me who I am today. These are the things that buff up the shine and make me glow. Without them I will slowly wither away into a dull little gray haired creature whose reason to be is gone.

I need to remember that there are going to be changes, in the way I use my money, or eat, or exercise, or even do my work, and it is usually better if I instigate them myself, then they will be aimed in the direction I want to go.