What is the best way to get out of a rut?

[Zara]

Although I want to change I find myself going back to the same old routine.
So I'm asking all to please give some suggestions.

Zara

[Shiva]

Gratitude worked for me. When I would feel like I was slipping back into my old skin, old paradigms, I would stop and start thanking God, spirit, buddha, Yoda, for EVERYTHING. Even though I do not exactly FEEL it, it gradually takes over.
Yesterday I was feeling very low because I did not want to be at work that night. I realized I had been in a work rut for YEARS. And that old familiar stress gripped me as I was at work. I stopped and started to thank God for everything. My hair, the smiling customers, the basketball game that was on,,anything to switch my train wreck thoughts. Slowly it worked. Then I began to notice people were very nice that night. I met a man that had amazing advice about being positive. All these little angels and things that helped me get through my shift. And I did. I am on a transformation path and sometimes I get stuck. But things are changing for me in an amazing way,,I have to be patient and have faith and sometimes play! Yesterday at work (bartender) I was filling the wells with ice and began to pretend that I was icing down samples for my research work in Africa. I am currently working towards my PHD in Nursing research and sometimes to get through the drudgery of uninspiring work, I imagine what it WILL be like when that part of my career begins. Its fun. Keep going,,ruts can be a good place to evaluate.,,
Peace
Sofia

[Zara]

Thanks Sofia for taking the time and energy to reply.
Yes, being grateful does help. I will turn to gratitude when things become boringly close to being a rut.

Hope you do well with your nursing degree ad the world does need more healers.

Wishing you all the best....

Zara

[Emha]

First of all: be at peace with what is.

Being in the now is the excess point to the power within.
If you are in the now you don’t carry the burden of the past or the future. You are light and free.

Concern yourself only with yourself

Worry pretends to be necessary but it serves no purpose.
Worry concerns itself with the future; it does not concern itself with the present moment.
Never worry about the future, instead or worrying you say: let’s just see what happens.

Here’s a nice little story:
a man won a new car
all his friends came to him to look at his new car
and said, you are so lucky
and he said.... well maybe
than one day he was riding his new car
and he was hit by a truck, and landed up in the hospital
all his friends came to visit him
and they said, that was verry unlucky that that truck crashed you
and he said.... maybe
when he was in the hospital...
there was a landslide, and his whole house slided in the sea
and again his friends said, lucky you were'nt in the house
and he said... maybe

[Zara]

Hi Emha!

Thank you for the story. I think it means that one should not take things that happen to you so personally?
When the man says maybe to all the bads things that happen to him, he is percieving them as they are things that just happen and it is not lucky or unlucky, it just is. What's important is the way one deals with things and not the events themselves.

Thank you it was very enlightening.

Zara

[Brileigh]

Zara I know what you mean as I've been through it many of times. I think sometimes I change in the small things you do every day can make a big difference. Instead of going to work/school every day in the same exact directions find a different route. It may take longer but it may mean discovering a beautiful park or a nice flower garden in front of a house. For your meals change everything about it. For me generally if I am eating at home I eat Chinese food every night. Well instead of doing that perhaps I should here & there eat some other kinds of food like Indian or Persian. Or perhaps with your friends you can have a meal exchange. And what it involves is each night one friend cooks at their house, and the others attend, the next night you might cook, and then another Friend B cooks, and etc.

Also I find that when I was in a rut I wasn't experiencing NEW THINGS.....
- go to different towns/cities for the day just for a quick visit
- try different restaurants, art galleries, museums, shops
- join a class (for me I am joining a free writing club)
- join a sports club, gym, fly a kite
- find a new hobby

JUST GET YOURSELF OUT THERE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY STOP THINKING NOTHING CAN CHANGE....BECAUSE IT CAN IF YOU TRULY WANT IT TO!!

Hope this helps, and would love to add you!!

[Zara]

Hi Brileigh,

Thanks for the suggestions, yes I do do things a bit repetitively.
I'll change it up and yes travel too.
I've added you as a friend, thanks for adding me.

Zara

[Nicole]

I have this problem, which is why I joined CCOR. I have been working on chanting Love and Gratitude when my mind starts to get cluttered with some negativity. And I have been blogging on this site to keep me active with the challenge as well as sorting it all out.

[Veya]

Change something in your actions with your goal in mind!