PRACTICE: Jot down one or two activities that you perform routinely that do little to enhance your life.
I am a ritualist as a person. It has taken years for me to acknowledge this fact. A few days of careful observation of me, would reveal most of my daily routines. Observe me for a month and you would have the roadmap to my very existence. You would know it all. I am okay with that. It helps me to live an orderly well-balanced life. My routine-ness does not stifle my creative juices. In fact, it creates the necessary space to be creative. My routine-ness does not hinder my ability to nurture relationships with others. I schedule time for my family and valued relationships. Yet upon introspection, I do find I have rituals that are more of a burden then anything else. In other words, I do them out of habit and without a clear picture of a desired outcome. Why? The practice has become easy. It is known. It is safe. I like the security it brings but if I am completely honest, the activity does little to enhance my overall well- being – the practice has not changed. I have. I am supporting the habit rather than the habit supporting me…It is DEAD WEIGHT.
I would venture to say that we all have been involved with someone that we have outgrown. Yet we hold on to the relationship because it is easier to play it safe and remain comfortable and miserable than to let it go. We don’t want to hurt their feelings or leave them feeling rejected. We don’t want to risk not having the safety of the old friend. We don’t want to risk rejection as we seek new ones. Employment is also one of those places where this happens. The life cycle with the job has come to an end. But letting go and pursuing other opportunities doesn’t seem to be an option. Safety and security have become dead weight.D
Make no mistake, holding on to things that cause life to be unbalanced, will eventually drag you down with it…a fact supported by the number of people who die each year trying to save a drowning friend (dead weight).
Ecclesiastes 3:6
PONDER THIS THOUGHT – Boundaries might be the means of getting rid of some dead weight.
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