Do nothing different and nothing will be different

Do nothing different and nothing will be different

There may be some aspects of our lives that we would like to change but we just don’t know how to do it, so instead we live day by day keeping things just as they are. We may remain in a job that we don’t like or continue to battle the same familiar tensions in a relationship, or we may never make progress on an idea or goal that we have often dreamt about. Even if we recognise the aspects of our lives that aren’t working well, and we have strong intentions about changing them, we can still find ourselves in the same unsatisfying position months or years later. Nothing has changed!

The reality is, that all of the thinking in the world, and all our good intentions, cannot bring about change in our circumstances if there is no action to accompany it! Newton’s first Law of Motion states that anything in motion will continue to be in motion, at the same speed and direction, unless acted upon by an external force. In a similar way, our lives are in motion, progressing along in a particular way. Generally speaking, our work, our relationships and our daily activities roll along in much the same way each day. On the whole, we are quite familiar with all of the things that fill our days and how we respond to them. If we do nothing different, and there are no other major forces or upheavals to cause a difference, our lives will continue to progress in its very familiar way, as per Newton’s Law.

If your life is progressing in a manner that is meaningful to you and has you feel positive and supported – great!  You may not want to change a thing! If, on the other hand, your days are routinely filled with struggle because some relationship, job or other aspect of your life is not working well for you, chances are that this will continue to be the case unless you take some action to do something differently (‘things will continue to be in motion in the same way unless acted upon by an external force’). The action, or external force, might be to simply commence sharing your struggles beyond yourself (and the people who may also be part of the struggle). You could start talking with a trusted friend or professional mentor about how some things are not working well for you and explore ways to take action in order to change the situation. This is a great first step, but following through with action is what will really make the difference. The actions don’t need to be extraordinary – it is often the simple and subtle changes that can make a great difference.

If there are no actions taken, either deliberate or accidental, to change the course of our lives, it is inevitable that our lives will remain much the same – we will continue to get more of the same. We can sit around and wait for the forces to occur that are beyond our control, and while we are waiting, continue to live in the same way; or we can initiate some action ourselves, bringing about an ‘external force’ that will impact our situation in some way. The choice is ours.

About Margaret Lambert

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Comments

  1. I really like how you explain this. It reminds me that if I want to change something, I need to make an action list. That’s how I get myself to change the things I want to.

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