It’s interesting how quickly we become comfortable with the way things are. For some, things are just fine. Others feel trapped by the way things are. Few challenge by thinking through alternate possibilities from what they see to what can be.
I was recently reminded of this when re-setting a production floor. Comprised of tables, shelving, and small machinery. The operators were hesitant at first when I challenged them by moving their tables. Initially, their response was a common one — the table belongs here!
But why? (Their answer is that it was there before.) Why are we so scared about the possibility of something different? Is it that our habits and routines make us feel safe because they are so automatic? Are we too tired to learn new things?
Contrast this fear of change to vacations where we easily experience new & different things. Everyone I know comes back from a vacation sharing everything that was new within it. Refreshed and ready to slide back into their everyday routines and habits.
What is never taught in school is that each of us creates our own life. A life that sometimes traps us, & other times challenges us, Always teasing us with possibility.
Life assigns us the responsibility to touch possibility only through the choices we make. Enduring the frustration of being both right & wrong creating starts, stops, and detours along the way as we seek possibility.
Rejecting habit and routine in the quest for personal growth is so hard to do in our everyday life. Whatever the challenge.
We can always move the table. It’s just that we never believe it nor see it soon enough to make a meaningful difference.