When you keep doing what you've always done...

From our earliest days we learn that if we cry, our stomachs are filled, our fears are soothed, our bum is  clean and dry. While our needs change as we age, we are conditioned that certain behaviors and actions will provide us with the results we want.

Until it doesn't.

Last week, Seth Godin challenged readers to think consciously about our personal narrative. (You can read it in its entirety here.)

Godin writes: "Did you wake up fresh today, a new start, a blank slate with resources and opportunities.... or is today another day of living out of the narrative you've been engaged in for years? For all of us, it's the latter. We maintain our worldview, our biases, our grudges, and our affections. We nurse our grudges and see the very same person (and situations) in the mirror today that we did yesterday. It's painful to even consider giving up the narrative we use to live our life. We vividly remember the last time we made an investment that didn't match our self story, or the last time we went to the "wrong" restaurant or acted the "wrong" way in a sales call. No, that's too risky, especially now, in this economy. So we play it safe and go back to our story."

Instead of playing it safe, what if we allow ourselves a little bit of risk? A little deviation from the tried and true? What if the "tried and true" is really not getting us what we want?

"If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always gotten." - W.L. Bateman

What if your narrative, your way of making decisions and living your life, opened up ever so slightly? What if you took a risk on something that was good rather than setting it aside because it wasn't quite perfect? We all run wounded in some way with scars and baggage and ick that we carry around with us. Humans are not perfect and we go to great lengths to try to make our lives that way in order to avoid pain and hurt. Not that there's anything wrong with that inherently, but what amazing opportunities are we missing because we are following our plan to avoid taking the risk of living with our whole selves?

The truth is, breakthroughs and new experiences aren't usually found in the safe places of life. Not much new in the ruts of the road. Is that really getting you where you want to be? I'm talking about setting the map aside and maybe taking the next exit off the autobahn. Even if you don't know where you are headed... take a leap of faith.

We all have those wounds that life and love have left behind. They may be very fresh, they may be in the process of healing, and they may be scars, but we all have them. I want to challenge you to think and feel - at what point does your narrative hold you back from opening up and taking the risk of living fully and true to the person you are meant to be?

"Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien." ~ Voltaire
(The perfect is the enemy of the good.)

"I'm just gonna let something brand new happen to me." ~ CeeLo Green
(Gen X Barry White)