Falling Behind

It happens to all of us.  We start off a new year or a new project all excited and full of enthusiasm, and then in a month's time we are stuck in our "same old loops", back to business as usual feeling stuck and mired.  

If you've ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, then you know being stuck in a loop is about.  For those who haven't seen it, Groundhog Day is about a selfish man (Bill Murray) who relives the same day over and over (and over) again.   It's not a good day in his life - he's a newscaster sent to Punxsutawney, PA to cover the groundhog's emergence (not really a Pulitzer story), he runs into an annoying old school friend, the woman he likes rejects him, and so forth.   When he realizes he is stuck in a Feb 2 loop, he tries to kill himself in multiple ways only to wake up in the bed at the beginning of the day again.  Gradually, as he realizes he's stuck in the day, he begins to find a side of himself that actually cares about other people and cares about contributing something to the world.   And (SPOILER ALERT) he is only released from the day when he "gets it right".

We don't get the chance to perfect the same day;  we don't get the chance to re-live high school/college/grade school and "get it right".  Many of our best and brightest pass away long before their time.  Life is short, and a "vale of tears" as the Psalm says.

But, everytime the clock or metronome ticks, everytime the calendar flips over, everytime time marches on and we feel left behind - we have the chance to start over.  Each moment gives us the chance to say, "Well, I'm not happy about that.  It's time to do things differently."

So you abandoned your New Year's Resolution to start running?  Strap on your running shoes and head out the door at the next chance you can.

Haven't been practicing the guitar?  Find 5 minutes today and sit down and play something.

Need a job but are un-motivated and discouraged?  Check out those want ads for a few minutes right now. Better yet, start researching what it would take to do what you really want to do.

and practice Beginner's Mind.

"It's a nice day to....start again" - Billy Idol