Maybe It’s Time To Stop Eating Burnt Toast?

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” Thich Nhat Hanh

We really are creatures of habit, aren’t we? Even if those habits are somewhat detrimental to our well being. Even if those habits prevent us from growing more fully into who it is we know we were created to become.

Habits are familiar. They become part of our identity. What is known and accepted comes with it’s own sense of predictability which creates a sense of safety, even if that safety feels uncomfortable and often empty.

But, for some, it’s better than the fear inherent with what’s unknown.

Burnt toast isn’t ideal, but if it’s all you’ve known, it’s just easier to simply settle and keep eating it, even if better options are readily available.

I’ve had my share of life’s burnt toast. Of settling for less than in the presence of abundant alternatives. The acceptance of my own perceived limited possibilities has impacted all areas of my life, personally and professionally. Because I was used to my limitations I expected more of them, even as I knew those better options were within reach and readily available. Habits forge identity and even though I knew life offered more than just burnt toast, I chose, through my own thoughts and actions, to perpetuate more of what I knew to be less than ideal.

Safe.

Familiar.

Yet uncomfortably empty.

The world is, in fact, a vastly unlimited world full of opportunities and possibilities. There is infinitely more than what it is you’ve perhaps always accepted.

The unknown can be a scary place. Because we’ve never been there. But it’s where we’ve yet to go which holds the possibilities of what we were created to become and experience.

We just have to create a new habit of allowing ourselves to go there.

Screw the burnt toast.

Photo by Alen Rojnic on Unsplash