Day 35: I Learned About Never Settling

No weird dreams after movie night. I'd say this is a pretty good thing. Next up for Bryan and I is introducing the loveliness that is the Star Wars trilogy. :-)

I have learned some interesting things about what constitutes settling to some folks. For some, it's simply that I'm not settling because I don't work at <insert previous job here>. I am settling because I didn't work to my full potential. As I see it, there's a lot of misperception about what this phrase means, and what it means to me.

Settling, as it stands, is directly seeing your goals and the potential to do great things, but consciously turning away and getting on with your bad decisions. Everything that comes up that is a game-changer is combated with excuses, self-doubt, and self-sabotage.

I have a person in my face-to-face life who is like this. This person has something good happen to them and immediately tries to downplay it or find some way to guarantee it won't work. They have been stuck in the same rut for a loooong time and don't really want to do anything about it. They have simply acknowledged that the suck in their life is the suck in their life and they have made their bed with the suck, never acknowledging that they have the power to change it.

That, my friends, is settling.

I have had this same problem in my own life in the past. I had some really good things going for me, and I would always break down and self-sabotage my efforts, simply because I was scared of being successful. Not because of deep-set issues (though anyone who has read this blog for more than one entry can tell you I have a few of those! ;-) ) but simply because it was the unknown and I knew I would have to work hard to get it.

I changed my life because it had just gotten to the point where I either had to change or end up another suicide statistic, because it was really that bad. God has a way of lifting you up when you get to such a desolate point in your life that you acknowledge that you can't do anything without him. He allows you the potential to do great things, until you realize that it was there all along for the taking. :-)

Deep musings this morning, eh? This has been on my mind for some time. I am taking a rest day today for the first time in 23 days and I don't consider this settling at all. I consider it honoring my body. I have been an off- and on-again Buddhist (and Christian, I tend to radiate infrequently between the two) for many years and that is a very important part of Buddhist philosophy, practicing compassion for yourself and others. So if I sound philosophical with Buddhist tendencies, there's a reason for that! :-)

Anyhoo, I will probably go out and dither for a bit, I'm meeting my best friend for lunch and mall-hopping today. There's a soup place in the mall that I want to try, so hopefully I will be able to try it out. I hope everyone has a fantastic day! :-)