The other day when I was making my way to class, I saw some kid think it would be a bright idea to drive his moped through the mud, and manage to get it stuck. The kid continued to rev the bike over and over and over again, just digging himself into an even bigger hole. As I watched the kid not make one change to how he was approaching the situation, it made me think how often people approach their lives like that.
We've all been in the position before where we feel as though we've gotten ourselves so stuck in a rut that instead of stopping and assessing the situation, we just grab a shovel and keep on digging because China has to be down there somewhere. I myself am guilty of approaching a situation the same way repeated times, then boiling over with frustration wondering why nothing is changing.
We constantly let ourselves get trapped in routines. Where we become so comfortable with doing the same thing every day, that when life decides to change things up on us, we have a meltdown. Instead of veering off from our previous planned out day and adjusting our approach, we try to avoid whatever is creating a change. Then shockingly are in a puddle of frustration and despair by the day's end because nothing turned out how it should have according to our "plan".
The sooner we can begin to stray from the main roads and shift our viewpoints, change will begin to become less of an obstruction to our day.
I use to always plan out my days because I hated the feeling of not knowing what was coming next. Then I met a friend who practically dragged my reluctant self out of my comfort zone. He had such a go with the flow attitude embedded in him it forced me to start going along with every crazy idea that popped in his head.
After a while of being hesitant to never knowing what he was going to throw at me, I accepted that it was easier to give in to the fact I had no idea what the day actually held. That was when I started to actually feel more in control of my life. I begin to stop thinking five steps ahead all the time and started actually living in the moment.
Trust me I still do like having a plan some days, and depending on the type of change that occurs will get frazzled here and there. However, the more I just accept that change is inevitable, allowing myself to learn new ways to approach situations, the better my day goes. Then I actually find myself excited to see what the day will throw at me, not worrying about my ability to handle whatever it is.
Unfortunately, nothing is ever going to fully go as planned. So instead of holding on to your set guidelines for dear life and only approaching a situation the way your most comfortable, go with the flow. After all, according to Einstein, the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
