Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Took today’s photo from a slightly different view today. Sometimes it good to do that. When we first start something, whatever it is – playing piano, tennis, a new job, a workout routine – we’re usually pretty open to taking suggestions and looking at things from all angles. But as we settle in we often start to get used to doing things in a way that we’re comfortable with. That becomes our default setting and it makes life easier going forward because we now have a routine. I absolutely love routine. It feels safe. I know what to expect. But everything is changing, always. So that routine you started in 1992 might not be the best way to do things today. And you’ll never know if you aren’t at least open to the idea of trying something new. When I go to a new restaurant, the entire menu is open to me, but the places I go to the most often? Same table, same waitress (if at all possible), same order almost always. Often the people at the restaurant will know what I want and just double check no changes before putting in the order. Is there something new on the menu I’d like? I might never know because now I don’t even look. So, every once in a while I’ll look at doing things in a new way. Look at the menu. Look at playing a passage musically with a different fingering. Look at changing the way we do things at work (sometimes work won’t give you the choice, right? Don’t we all love “system upgrades”?), look at switching up our workouts… look out the window from a different angle. The garden shed and the giraffe are always out there, but I’d never even see them if I didn’t get up and look from today’s angle. This is the way life works. So many things, so many opportunities, so many ways to think and act… surrounding us all the time. Yet here we sit letting it all pass us by if we’re not open to it. I might be the king of living life by routines. I like doing things the same way every time. But I also know that every once in a while, especially if things start feeling stale – look at other ways to do things. And always stay open when presented with a new way to do something even if your head is going crazy because it messes with the path you’ve settled into. Sometimes that’s where all the magic is. Michael Singer, in his book The Surrender Experiment said “Some moments in our lives are marked by destiny”. I’ve found that in my life, those moments almost always involve a huge change. Meeting the person you’ll fall in love with. Quitting drugs and alcohol. Taking a new job. Learning how to play an instrument. Changing how you eat. Starting a workout program. Try not to settle so far into the daily routine that you miss a moment that could have been marked by destiny because you weren’t paying attention. Periodically look at things from another angle. Then listen to your heart and, as the serenity prayer says, “change the things you can” if you’re being led to. Our destiny’s lie in the decisions we make today. Be open to everything.
