Although I’m not big on doing themes or a series with my blogs, my last few have all sort of tied in together. 

First, “Resolution or Realization,” points out that the reality of life is that it “just happens.” It does not matter what our great master plan is, things often beyond our control, just happen.

From there, I asked, “are you following the easiest path?” When life happens, because of our need to control, we often allow life’s “happenings” to get us off our own path and onto the wrong path, which generally isn’t the easiest. Once we get on the wrong path, there, it’s easy to move along through life in a rut, hence where I asked whether  is “your life feeling a little ho hum?” At this point, life seems to hold little excitement and we give into the minutia of everyday life. 

What happens when we stay in that rut?

Quagmire – “a soft boggy area of land that gives way under foot” or “an awkward, complex or hazardous situation.”

This is where ruts can take us. I’ve heard people say things like “being in a funk,” but for me, I think quagmire is better; I’ve always liked the word. Maybe it’s because I think of slopping around in the mud, which may be fun, but not necessarily productive.

I remember a time – actually several times – in my life when work was really good. Of course, this also meant that I was very busy with work. Naturally, this came at a time when the kids’ schedules were impossible to keep up with. And, some volunteer work was really starting to be very time-consuming. 

Each day seemed like a marathon. 

I kept telling myself, it would all slow down soon. But, then again how soon was soon? I would wonder. When I got into my rut, it didn’t take long for my health to start to decline. In addition to the stress, my diet, exercise, even sleep got totally pushed aside.

… Recalculating …

It would never fail, at some point before crashing – whether it was stress, diet, sleep, a line from one of my favorite songs would haunt me:  “are we (am I) rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell?”

This lyric (from signer/songwriter Merle Haggard) would always cause me to stop and ask myself, what in the world am I doing? Is this really the life I want? It was as though the rolling snowball reached a plateau. Much like our GPS does for us when we miss a turn, it was time for “re-calculating.” I began to use these downtimes to reevaluate. And by doing so, I would recalculate the quickest way to review everything, and that included the path I was on. 

Every day we encounter obstacles that can throw us off course. Remember “life happens.” It happens one day at a time, and because it happens so slowly, it is easy to get knocked off the direction we should be traveling. And that’s where things can get out of control – fast. The next thing you know, like that snow ball, you’re headed for hell (well, at the very least, a quagmire!) 

Reflect. Reevaluate. Recalculate. If you do that when it feels you’re in a quagmire you’ll get back on track in no time. 

Soulful Quote:“Are we headed downhill like a snow ball headed for hell?” (or a Quagmire)

Song: “Are the good times really over for good” by Merle Haggard (Easy song to insert your own lyrics)

Game Exercise/Life Changer: Reopen your Don’t Be A Cow! and thumb through it. Select a couple of days at random, or like Rachel and I do from time-to-time, start from the beginning. You can use the book over and over as it will help you re-calculate your route to make sure you’re on the only path that matters: Yours.

Okay, I really don’t like so called teasers, but next week is really one of my favorites as it offers/includes/hasone of my favorite days of the year. And that day, holds a secret to avoiding getting into ruts and quagmires to begin with. Can you guess what day it is?

Please share your thoughts and comments.