By Pamela Bishop (Guest Blogger)
Do you have a stubborn stain on your carpet somewhere in your house? Perhaps it is on a piece of furniture or clothing. My biggest challenge in this arena is my living room carpet. I have a dog whom I blame for the numerous stains on my living room carpet. I’ve tried to get theses stains out. They either come out for a little while after I work on them, but come back in the same spots or just don’t budge at all. And, yes, I’ve paid professional carpet cleaners who are able to make those stains look like they are gone for a while, but they come back in exactly the same places!
Sometimes my life routines can become like those persistent stains. My routines, that I thought were serving me, can become ruts instead of healthy routines, even if they started out as benefitting me. My stubborn self-will to do certain things and in a certain way keeps me stuck even if what I chose to do long ago is not in my best interest today.
Here are some of the stains that I have trouble removing:
- Having to get up at a certain time when my body is begging for more rest.
- The same workout routine when my body and soul could use a fun change.
- Responding the same way to a relative instead of learning and trying a new approach.
- Gravitating toward input (whether people, books or podcasts and movies) that reinforce my perceptions or thoughts instead of challenging them.
- Eating the same foods out of habit or compulsion and telling myself I don’t like certain foods that are good for me.
These seemingly reasonable routines need to be questioned and evaluated every so often for me to keep growing. Just like I might need to embrace the disruption of getting new living room flooring, the healthy disruption of my routines can refresh my life.
Making changes can be challenging but is necessary for well-being and thriving. As I write this, the word “complacency” keeps coming up in my mind. I looked it up and one definition of complacency is, “self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies”.
This unawareness is not what I want. I want to know the potential pitfalls I’m headed for. Some of the opposites of complacency are words like truth, honesty, humility and care, as well as ambitious. These are words that help motivate me to evaluate my routines and make necessary changes to create the life that serves my best interests.
ACTION STEP: Write down some of the habits or routines in your life. What do you “find yourself” doing unconsciously that might not be good for you, even if it was at some time in your past? Schedule a call with Marianne who can help you work on the stubborn and distracting stains in your life.
