Friends Don't Let Friends Get Stuck in Ruts

Sometimes we as people just need a fresh start. We need change to help us live. That's why girls get new haircuts, new wardrobes, and why guys buy new cars, new technological "toys" etc. It's not necessarily that it's cool or that it makes us look good -- though that certainly is a factor.

It's the fact that though we're creatures of habit and routine, sometimes we end up stuck in a rut. And when this happens... man, do we feel it. We become sluggish, lethargic. We get fed up with our lives and start to view them as boring or humdrum. We can't find satisfaction in the things we used to. Sometimes, we even let all of this lead us to depression.

Little wonder that this is the leading cause of the mid-life crisis.

So I'm going to take a minute and shove a little personal philosophy at you. See, I happen to think that change is a healthy thing (with some notable exceptions.) In order to take proper care of ourselves, we must seek change as people.

This does not mean that you should shave your head and flash your twins to a random stranger at Mardi Gras.

My apologies to all of you who are fighting down disappointment.

It means that we must challenge ourselves. Learning a new skill, reading something enlightening (or even just a genre you haven't tried before), and -- you guessed it -- eating healthy and exercising -- are a few ways that we can challenge ourselves in healthy ways.

You knew I'd bring it back around.

I've been talking a lot to people lately -- people who want to shed some pounds, but say that they're stuck in a rut. They'll try something when things aren't so hard. Well, let me put this to you. Logically, how can you get out of a monotonous rut but to make a positive change? Aaaaand isn't losing weight a great positive change?

So logically, shedding pounds is not something you do after you get out of the rut, but something that will pull you out.

Deep, right?

Sometimes, like with my recent situation, change slaps you in the head and says "get off your ass and come with me." Then you're tossed head over heels into a new life, a new job, a new situation. If you're really lucky, you'll be tossed in without any sort of anchor to your old life. Maybe even in another state, another coast or another country. Like, y'know... Australia.

This happens to me a lot, can you tell?

But other times, change is being lazy. You have to get up all by yourself, slap change over the head and say "get off your ass and come with me." Which is an awesome role reversal, if you really stop to think about it. And it takes infinitely more courage than riding the wave like I've been doing.

Even better, when you start the party yourself and decide to lose weight, you can tack on all sorts of other things. Like learning a new skill (for me -- cooking and T'ai chi.) Read Shakespeare if the mood takes you (just bear in mind that Shakespeare was rather dirty at times and don't be shocked, because I warned you.) Go see a musical or a basketball game. Buy a CD of foreign music. Make dinner for friends. Take a weekend trip to a city you've never been to (even if it's that weird little ghost town thirty miles away that you have to look up on a map just so you'll remember the name. I live in one of those towns now.)

I know, I know. "But Jami, isn't that just superficial? Aren't we just running away from our real problems?" Well, no. Not if you choose not to. It's not that you're filling the world with meaningless little things to fill the real void that's there. You're learning to appreciate the smallest things that God's given. Because He gives us a lot, we just don't see it because we're too damned busy being stuck in that stupid rut.