The Monotony of Life and Knowing There is a Light

When does doing the same thing over and over become monotonous and boring and at what point does it become the key to a successful, fruitful and meaningful way of life?
 

I believe that there is actually no escaping the fact that life will eventually become the same every day, unless you have the ability to make constant changes, such as to travel.  But even if you travelled, you could argue that eventually you would be in the routine of bus/train etc... finding a place to stay, explore, move on and repeat.  Life is routine.  It is intrinsically part of living.  Get up, eat, do something, eat, do something, eat, do something, sleep.

Now, does that mean that there is no hope of escaping from the monotony of routine?  Absolutely no. 

What makes life monotonous and boring is when you find yourself performing a task that you do not really want to be doing.  Then you are living a life without passion and when this happens, you cease to connect with your heart.  It is when you catch yourself saying, "If only I was doing..."  And when that happens, capture the thought, make a note of it, write it down, because it could be the key to your future happiness - no matter how ridiculous or far fetched it may seem at the time.  At a later time, if you find yourself contemplating the question of what is it that I want to do with my life? then remember these thoughts.

If you have no passion for what it is you are doing, then you never give yourself fully to the task before you.  The focus of your mind wanders and you drift away.  Take a conversation.  You can be speaking with someone and the conversation is fine, it passes the time.  But if you speak with someone who's words inspire you and touch a place in your heart and soul, you feel as if you never want time to move forward and the conversation to end.  You lose yourself in that moment and everything else around you ceases to exist - there is only you and the other person.

But it is not only what you are doing that may be important.  It is also worth considering the where?  Ask yourself the following:-

- Am I living in a place that inspires me?
- Do I feel that my surroundings add to the quality of my life or detract from it?
- Do I feel peace and contentment in my heart when I look around me?
- Am I able to pursue my passion in this place?
- Are there people around me that inspire and push me? 

If you answer no to any of these questions, then perhaps it is time to move on.  Your surroundings can make an enormous difference to how you feel about life and what you do.  The ability to see the ocean or the mountains.  The opportunity to connect with inspiring and like-minded people.  The options to pursue those things that interest you.  

By immersing yourself in a culture and the surroundings of what gives you passion in life, it will help to nurture that passion and in turn, feed back into the community in which you live.  Your passion adds to the collective and helps it to grow and to inspire others. 

For as long as I can remember, I harboured a dream of living on a tropical beach.  One early morning back in 2006, as part of my divemaster in training (DMT) duties, I was sweeping sand off the decking out front of the dive shop and I paused for a moment to take in my surroundings.  In that simple moment of looking down the arc of beautiful, white sand beach, I knew I had fulfilled my long held dream.  I laughed to myself at the absurdity of the situation.  Only five months before, I had still been enjoying a good career at a large corporate and here I was with a broom in my hand sweeping sand.  But the sweeping was not the important factor, it was the where and the why I was doing it that gave me passion and made me want to do it the best that I could.  It's the way I feel when I am floating in the ocean, or riding a boat over the sea. I feel an uprising, a swelling of my heart. I cannot help but smile and be happy with life because I am doing the thing that drives my passion and fuels my soul.

Whenever you begin to have negative feelings and thoughts about the monotony of life and question what it is that you are doing, then you need to use those to positive effect, rather than letting them become constantly negative.  Use these thoughts to inspire and to give courage to yourself.  Tell yourself:-

• Each time I do something that I find monotonous, I move a step closer to finding my purpose in life
• I now recognise and know that what I am doing is not right for me
• I will not continue to do this forever
• I will find a way to make my life the one that I want
• It is only a matter of time until I can make that change
• Whenever I have these negative feelings, I will use them as the fuel for moving me forward
• I will look at others who make the same complaints with compassion but I will be happy that at least I am going to do something to change my situation

  
As the time comes to make your change in life, you may even begin to rationalise these feelings and decide that every one gets them and so it is quite normal to feel this way about life.  And that, I believe is the truth.  Every one does have these thoughts.  What separates us as individuals is what we do about them.  For some of us, they are too strong to ignore and we would do so to our own detriment and eventual demise. 

A flower needs to bloom.  You have to raise your head to the sun and open yourself up to the life that you want.  You owe it to yourself and only to yourself.

I have a notion of doing God's work and I think that it comes from pursuing the desire that you have in your heart because that allows you to connect with everything around you, which in turn, brings you closer to everything.  And everything is part of the whole.  Because everything is one.

Go follow your dreams.