Thursday, July 11, 1996

Experience something new today

We all have a tendency to get into routines, doing things the same way over and over, just because that’s how we’ve always done them. Routines can be a trap that prevent us from seeing opportunities and experiencing life.

Have you ever been stuck on a problem, then left if for a few days, and when you come back to it, the solution is immediately obvious? Often we get so wrapped up in something, so closely involved, that we need to step back for a while just to regain a realistic perspective.

Here’s a sobering thought -- what if you’re so intimately involved in your LIFE that you have lost perspective? Like a frustrating problem that you can’t walk away from.

The way out of that trap is to get out of your routine. Make an effort to experience something new, really new and different, every day. Read a magazine that you know you’ll disagree with, eat lunch at a different time, try something you know you’re no good at. Make it a point to take alternate routes to familiar places: the office, the grocery store, the health club. Try a new kind of food. Make friends with someone new. Wake up an hour earlier. Adjust the lighting in your office differently. Re-arrange your furniture.

What habits or routines do you have that rob you of your perspective? Step back, look at the things you do every day, and ask yourself “why?” Then look at the things you’ve never thought you could do, or never considered doing, and ask “why not?"

The only way you can take control of your life is to switch off the auto-pilot.

— Ralph Marston

Where there's a will... Appreciate before you accumulate next

Copyright ©1996 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.