The casual observer of my life sees me as they see anyone else. I am fairly unremarkable in that regard. They see my 8 or 9 day work week and are probably not impressed. Everyone who works usually works long hours and odd schedules. My schedule is probably harder for my family than it is for me. I have a compartment for each of my 3 lives. They don't usually collide (On the rare occasion they do, it spices things up a bit). Is it possible too be so busy that you become complacent with your life?
For a long time I believed the destination to reach was a state of complacency. That would be where I would find true happiness. To want for nothing and need nothing. While it's not a terrible place to be, once I become complacent, I noticed it's easier to start slipping back down those old paths I believed to be so far behind me it would be impossible to ever cross them again.
I think this idea is one of those that encompasses every aspect of life. If I am not progressing I'm regressing. Becoming complacent with life doesn't necessarily mean I stop doing what I have been doing. I simply became used to that level of activity, life or position. The challenge of it all has left. What do I do in that situation?
A lesson from evolution (wait what?). That's right evolution! Evolution is a story of individual progression. We adapt to changes in our environment but not until we are pushed and challenged, forced to accept the change or face destruction. So to answer my earlier question, what do I do when my current level isn't enough to keep me engaged and continually advancing? I can wait for circumstances to change for me. Or I can accept responsibility and force change on myself.
That is where I am. Swimming comfortable in the current. Going seemingly the same pace as I always have but making no progress in my development. It is as if the current has increased and I need to add extra strength to continue my journey up stream. I am not able to ease up in my strokes and remain where I am. It is push forward harder or be pushed backward to face those long forgotten paths again.
So how do I combat complacency?
Realize that I am not nor ever will be Mister Perfect. There is always room to improve. Any thoughts to the contrary are illusions of grandeur. Did the current speed up or did I slow down because I was complacent with where I was?
So lesson learned, "Never give up! Never surrender!"
At church we began studying the teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith. He used a phrase that I have heard my entire life but never really understood it's complete connotations, "What would Jesus do?" The lesson still didn't hit home for me until my mother wrote about it in her weekly email. I quote a snippet here:
> "My friend…shared with me how she asks herself "What would Jesus do?"…I suddenly remembered a decision I'd made the day before. I kept asking myself what was right to do in that situation, and I think I listened to the wrong voice in my response to the situation. I realized with sudden clarity that if I had asked myself what Jesus would do, I would have made the other choice. I knew instantly that Jesus would do the kind thing. When I ask "what is right," I open up the door to a lot of worldly philosophies as well as the Lord's way. For example, I might think that this is a moment when I should assert myself, stand up for the right by standing up for myself, when in reality it is a moment when I should just be looking to show love. In another instance, I might think that I should put limitations on others in an effort to control them when perhaps the Lord's way is to leave the choice with them. Often, the world's way involves a form of pride, but usually the Lord's way involves a form of humility."
Another lesson learned. WWJD is not just a catchy slogan. It needs to take a better place in my life.
