Being stuck in a rut can drag you down and make you feel depressed. It can also make it as if life just something you have to get through but have long since stopped enjoying.
You become this way slowly without even realizing it, until one day you wonder what happened and when!
For many of us our daily life is governed by some form of routine which we cannot avoid, for example going to work 8 hours a day, taking the kids to school each morning, this is daily routine which for the most part cannot be changed. Another reason behind routine is the safety barrier; we get comfortable with our lives and feel secure in them, so why change?
However, sometimes routine can start to get us down, leave us with a feeling of dissociation and start causing problems in relationships, work and daily life in general. Gradually we can become unhappy.
This is when a change is needed; this is the time to dig yourself out of the hole you have put yourself in and start enjoying life again.
If that is where you are now - let's get you out of it!
Follow these points, and within a few days you will notice your life brightening up.
• Do at least one thing everyday that is different to your normal routine, this could be something as simple as taking a short break and going for a walk, sitting down to read a chapter of a book or any other hobby or pastime you once enjoyed.
• Take up a new hobby, make sure that you give yourself some times throughout the day to just enjoy something you like doing.
• Shake up meal times by having something different, you can either try a different recipe or order different take out, try foods from different cultures.
• Get out and meet new people, there are many ways you can achieve this, join a gym, club or attend a self-improvement class or hobby class. Go to the market and talk to some stall holders about their produce. Ask if your library has any books on silk worm cultivation - or some other topic.
• Drive a different way to work or if possible walk or start bicycling, not only will this break the rut you are in but also get you fitter.
• Take up a new sport; there are many types of sport with something for the fitter to the more moderate forms of exercise.
• Do something each day that is positive and helpful to others. Start off with small ideas and work your way up to bigger ones. For example, sweep the path in front of your house, find out where the nearest orphanage is and go and give a donation. Offer to clean an elderly neighbors' garden.
• If you are stuck at home with children then change your routine throughout the day, don’t always do the same chore at the same time, shake up the way you do your housework.
• Make small changes around the home or work area. Buy a small picture and hang it up at your office.
• De-clutter your home or work area; it is surprising how being surrounded by clutter can get you down.
You can print this list out, and tick them off as you accomplish them.
Don't just get by with one change. Maybe you get get a hobby going in the first week, great - keep it going but next week find that orphanage, the following week start the cycling.
I guarantee that you won't stay in your rut for long.
Two important elements that you must not forget:
1) Part of the changes must include excercise. That increase of blood circulation will bring new life to oxygen starved places!
2) Part of the changes must involve other people - like at the market or library or at a social. When meeting new people think about them and how to bring some pleasure to their lives - not yours.
