Getting Out of a Rut

It's been a while since I have posted to the LIVE AS IF blog and I think I know why.  I've been a rut lately so it's hard to think about something inspirational to write about.  Webster defines a rut as "a usual or fixed practice".  It also defines a rut as "an annually recurrent state of sexual excitement in the male deer" but let's just focus on the first definition for now.

I am sure everybody has felt as though they were in a rut at one time or another.  Being in a rut doesn't necessarily mean you are unhappy or troubled but rather just in a state of going through the motions.  When you are in a rut, work seems routine, playing with the kids seems routine, even prayer seems like it doesn't mean as much.  So the question that I propose today is how does one get out of a rut?

I have been thinking about this topic for a couple weeks now and looking for that inspirational moment that gets me out of the rut.  In past blog posts, I have always talked about looking for those moments of inspiration in life to find a connection to the world around you.  When you are in a rut, those moments just don't seem to happen as often so you have to look a little harder.

Obamas and VP Biden at National Prayer Break

fast

Then it happened.  I was getting ready for work this past Thursday morning and saw that President Obama was about to make his remarks at the Annual Prayer Breakfast.  I figured I could use some inspiration so I sat down and listened.  He spoke about how faith plays such an important role in his life and how moved he was to place his hand on the bibles of Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his second inauguration.

Even though much of what he said was inspirational, what really struck me was when he said "And our task as citizens -- whether we are leaders in government or business or spreading the word -- is to spend our days with open hearts and open minds; to seek out the truth that exists in an opposing view and to find the common ground that allows for us as a nation, as a people, to take real and meaningful action.  And we have to do that humbly, for no one can know the full and encompassing mind of God.  And we have to do it every day, not just at a prayer breakfast."

President Obama was making a point of how leaders need to work together every day but I took another meaning that we need to work every day to find meaning in life and not just typical days like Yom Kippur, New Years or The National Prayer Breakfast.

So the next day, I was feeling a little more upbeat and looking for those moments of inspiration and was pleased that the moment found me.

I scheduled lunch with a friend of mine last Friday in Coconut Grove since I had a meeting in that area at 2pm.  My friend had a meeting at 1pm so I found myself with an hour to kill before my meeting.  I decided to take a walk since it was nice day and found this overlook of Biscayne Bay from Peacock Park.  I just stood there for 30 minutes thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.  When I realized that it was time to get to my meeting, I left with a sense of connection with the world around me and that these few moments of calm and peace were made just for me. 

Since then, it seems like I am officially out of my rut even if my routine is probably pretty similar than before last week.  I suppose that being in a rut is just a state of mind and that we need a little jolt to get out of it.  I am glad I found my jolt in a hidden path behind Peacock Park.

The lesson I learned from this is that we can't just wait for those moments in life to be inspired, we have to go out and find them or even better, to create them.  When you find those moments, LIVE AS IF that moment was made just for you because I am under the firm belief that it was.