Most of us must go to work every day and perform repetitive tasks that are rarely of our choosing. And when these unwanted routines run — as they do — it isn\u2019t long before our growing resistance to them leaves us feeling weary, if not burned out! Even if we\u2019re lucky enough to make a living doing what we wish, what feels good one moment can become a grind the next; we all know the drill whenever we start feeling stuck. Resistance to our situation swells in us like a cresting wave, and moments later we\u2019re carried into a world without gratitude, enthusiasm, or hope. Now add to this sad scenario the fact that this resistance itself becomes a part of our routine, and it\u2019s easy to see why we often feel as if we\u2019re stuck in a rut!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first step to releasing ourselves from any sense of being in a rut begins with seeing this truth: The real nature of what we call our \u201cdaily grind\u201d is really just our own mind telling itself, over and over again, how much it wishes things would change. If life seems like a grind, it\u2019s only because we\u2019re following around the same level of thinking that makes it so. Blaming outside circumstances for trapping us in a rut is like blaming the television for the boredom we feel while sitting watching nothing but reruns. It\u2019s time to break our ties with anything in us that would rather complain about its situation than go to work to change it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first step to breaking out of any rut in life is to no longer enable the parts of us that keep walking in them while wishing they weren\u2019t so deep! Learning to watch our own thoughts and feelings — to be quietly attentive to what the mind is attending to in each moment — ensures that we won\u2019t fall into these ditches, because our heightened level of attention keeps them from being dug!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For encouragement along the way, just notice how, each time you bring your attention into the present moment, it\u2019s you who gets the gift of being made new. That\u2019s the way it works. See how many times you can catch yourself just as you\u2019re about to go on the \u201cride\u201d of not wanting to be where you are — of not wanting to do what you must. Then deliberately step out of that long line of repetitive thoughts and feelings. Take your attention off what you don\u2019t want, and bring it into the new moment — as it is.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This new and higher level of attention connects you to the present moment, the living now. The interior task of working to remain attentive in this way grants you entrance into a world free of routine, without ruts of any kind — because no one has ever been there before you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most of us must go to work every day and perform repetitive tasks that are rarely of our choosing. And when these unwanted routines run — as they do — it isn\u2019t long before our growing resistance to them leaves us feeling weary, if not burned out! Even if we\u2019re lucky enough to make a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8,7],"tags":[717,711,715,716,712,21,713,714],"class_list":["post-669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enlightenment-self-realization","category-negative-states","category-self-remembering-awareness","tag-boredom","tag-break-out-of-a-rut","tag-daily-grind","tag-lack-of-enthusiasm","tag-repetitive-tasks","tag-resistance","tag-unwanted-routines","tag-weariness"],"yoast_head":"\n