One Day You Wake Up To Find That Life Has Happened TO You (And Without Your Consent)

A few days ago I was feeling pretty great about riding a winning streak of getting all my to-do items checked off my list. And it got me thinking about how empowered I feel when I’m able to conquer the things I find tough. Because most of the time, some form of procrastination has me stuck.

Sometimes you fall into patterns. You fall into a routine, fall into a job, fall into friends, fall into experiences, fall into deep dark binges with leftover Christmas fudge. Um... (As someone who is team peppermint fudge, you can see why this would be a problem.)

I hate feeling like I’m not getting anywhere. I hate when you realize you could be farther along than you are now. It’s hard to combat that feeling, even when you do your best to break out of that pattern.

Even when you obsess constantly about writing lists, checking off lists and writing more lists. Even when you are self-consumed with the thoughts rattling around in your brain 24/7 thinking you’ve got a pretty good grasp on who you are, and then one day you catch your reflection and realize you’re actually a forty-something toll booth worker in Ocala. Say huh? When did that happen?

Our lives can be a snail’s marathon race. If you aren’t consciously aware and have a plan, momentum takes the driver’s seat and sends you into overdrive down this road that just sort of happens TO you. Yesterday, you’re in college with a wheelbarrow full of hope and potential of being a lawyer; the next day you’re the lead cashier in a Quiznos in a remote Florida town. Which actually does still exist, by the way. And your customers know you by name.

So there’s value in checking in with yourself, repeatedly even if there’s pain involved. Are you moving forward in your life? Or is this just plan B you’ve settled on to get you through life?

A fluffer. A space filler.

A way to avoid the pain and seep into the comfort of the mundane of life. Occasionally, it is nice to take your foot off the gas and coast with the rest of traffic. To not have the pressures of success, or failure, define you. But unfortunately, taking too long of a break can consume you into a reality of complacency. A very deep pit to dig yourself out of once you start falling.

It’s important to implement our own security measures to prevent that complacency from taking over. We need to have the wisdom to know the difference and be accountable to ourselves when we fall. No one will do it for us. In fact, many are floating down the river of complacency with not a care in the world or an urge to get off.

You have to be willing to call yourself out when you find that you’re BS’ing your way to a mediocre existence. And to realize that what you want is worth reaching.

We’re fallible creatures. We have tough times and sometimes we’re going to trip and bust our noses. We fail hard.

But we mustn’t fall out of life.

Not when we haven’t even gotten to the best part of our story yet.