I owe you an explanation.
Over the course of the past year, I’ve had multiple topic ideas, all worthy of a blog entry but none getting the effort they deserved. Instead, those ideas have been swimming in my head and they’ve only created questions and doubts. Doubts of whether the effort is worth it. Questions of purpose and destiny. Wondering if any of this was leading to anything else.
I should add here that I don’t regret anything. Every decision – good and bad – has taught me something about myself and life in general. What I’ve realized, though, is that despite having “learned” those lessons, I’ve put very few of them in practice.
As a result, my life has become one gigantic routine.
There is safety in routine. Comfort in routine. But there’s also complacency in routine, and that’s where I almost fell. By January of this year, I became complacent, doing as little as possible but expecting the most in return. I was on the verge of my worst nightmare: mediocrity.
To combat this, I was forced to take action. I had to take extreme actions with my finances. I took chances with career opportunities (thanks to advice from friends). I’m trying to be as proactive in my own life as possible, rather than being a passive victim to whom life just “happens.”
Does this mean I’ve got everything under control? Oh, dear God, no. (Ask me how long it’s been since I’ve worked out. Go ahead. Ask me.) But the point is, I’m trying. I’m doing SOMETHING. I spent so much time making excuses, but I have nothing to show for all the excuses I’ve used. So, over the last several months, a couple of things happened to me. I felt a few jolts that forced me to refocus. And now here I am.
I want to draw your attention to something, though. “Forced” is one of the key words in this entry. In order to escape complacency, someone or something has to force you out of it. You ain’t gettin’ out of a situation just because you feel like it. If that’s the case, you weren’t complacent in the first place. Life has to happen. Debts have to accumulate. Health issues have to scare you. People have to threaten you. Something has to happen to jolt LIFE back into you.
If you want a life of excellence but you’ve fallen into complacency or are on the verge of mediocrity, beware of the coming jolt. It will change EVERYTHING.
And on we go…
Treasures from the Journey 