Anything that is familiar makes us feel comfortable. The newness is gone and we feel safe around the routines or things we find familiar.
When young, we look for excitement and change. As we age, the cloud of familiarity slowly becomes our sun.
What’s interesting about familiarity is that it creates problems for us at many levels throughout our lives. It can keep us from understanding a different point of view or a different type of life.
Familiarity creates a dividing line between what we know well and what we fear because we don’t know nor have experienced that which is unfamiliar. This dividing line can lead people on each side of it to extreme positions condemning the other side. All because each has no understanding of the other.
Familiarity can be the biggest obstacle to change. Both organizational and personal. We become too comfortable when we are in the familiar. Familiarity can easily breed laziness. Why endure the work of new routines and understanding when change presents itself? It’s easier to hug what is familiar.
We are essentially blind when we are so comfortable and certain within the familiar. That is what we need to guard against. The unfamiliar is certainly different but may not be harmful. Opening our minds to this possibility can help change your perspective and take your life on an unexpected journey that may make you smile along the way.