Beat the Urge to Be Complacent

It’s happening.

After a year and a half of trying to keep track of my family’s COVID comings, goings, starts, and restarts, things feel kind of normal around the house!

It’s not to say that things feel normal around the world. My heart is with the people of Louisiana, and now in the Northeast, who were affected by Hurricane Ida. Countless memories have come up for me around our own family’s experience evacuating the New Orleans area on the eve of Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago, as has an immense sense of gratitude for the people who supported us in countless ways in the days and months afterwards.

It’s not to say that untimely challenges don’t continue to happen on the homefront either. Our favorite family car kicked the bucket this week, just days after the kids and I were gushing over what a trusty vehicle it had been. (Someone clearly forgot to knock on wood!)

Still, right now, it feels like my children are where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to be doing. For me, that means returning to a semblance of normalcy and routine.

It means I can breathe for a minute while others might not be able to. It means I can take some time to recharge, which is important for being at the ready when needed. Interestingly, however, I’m also noticing a little pull to be complacent. I’m pretty sure complacency is not as useful in the long run as recharging and renewing.

Do you fall into complacency when you have less going on?

I am certain I’ll be “productive” in the coming weeks. I’ll reliably check off my list of to-dos. I’ll get the shopping done, the laundry done, my walks in, and my windows replaced. But, I’m noticing how the luxury of routine can lull me into inaction through its comforts. It seems easy to lose sight of my personal goals when I get to, at last, celebrate completing a series of uninterrupted tasks. It's easier to get consumed by social media happenings when no one is at home asking me a question or waiting to be fed.

But tasks are tasks and social media is social media. In the end, what are we really going to remember doing with our time when we’re not busy putting out fires or evacuating floods? Wouldn't it be wise to take advantage of this time to make strides in living our ideal and best lives? Could we do better at finding new ways to contribute in times in our lives marked most notably by routine?

I think the trick to appreciating routine and not becoming complacent in it is to make sure the daily to-do list we’re working from has real meaning built in - to stay intentional about who we want to be showing up as each day just as we commit to getting done what we need to do. Imagine a kind of productivity that fuels the soul while it checks the boxes.

So, here are a few questions I’ve committed to asking myself each day for a while to challenge that pull I have towards complacency. Perhaps they might be of interest to you if you feel you can benefit from more meaning in your day.

Morning

· Who do I want to be for my family, friends, and colleagues today?

· What major personal goal am I working towards right now?

· What small, definitive action will I take towards it today?

· What do I have on my calendar to look forward to?

· What time do I have on my calendar to reflect?

Evening

· What one small win can I celebrate today?

· Where could I knowingly have done better today?

· What will I do to be better tomorrow?

· Whose day was better because of something I did?

In love and pursuit of meaning,

Molly