If you always do what you always did…..

Over the years I facilitated meetings for a variety of organizations who were planning for their future. Somewhere during the course of their discussions I generally would use the quote, “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” I can’t site the source. For that matter, I’m not entirely sure it’s accurately repeated. But it invariably got the folks in the room to open their imaginations to other possibilities to what they knew from past experiences.

I’m told we all dream, but that the frequency with which we remember those dreams is different from person to person. Very early this morning I woke from a very vivid dream. I woke in a cold sweat saying to myself, “this is not where you should be. Why are you back here? Who are these people? You can’t be here. You can’t be in the past.” I can’t remember dreaming but a handful of times. Never has a dream been this vivid, certainly not this much a nightmare. I got up from bed and walked around my house to make sure I knew where I was. I got a glass of water from the kitchen. I was exhausted! Never has a dream haunted me for much of the next day. Even now the details are fresh and clear.

I believe in change; personally, professionally, in my communities. I’ve read all sorts of materials about change; being open to change, managing change, making change, changing for a new economy. We can plan for change. We can be prepared for change. We can work toward change. But, how do we navigate meaningful change? I suspect there are many who need to navigate life changes.

Over the years, we’ve gotten ourselves in situations that are not entirely satisfying, i.e. business, job, fellow workers, boss, living circumstance, habits. We’ve paced back ‘n forth sufficiently that the rut is deep and seemingly impossible to climb from. We could be open to change, but navigating it seems at least too difficult or at worst, impossible. What I have to remind myself is that change is a constant. If I don’t want to do what I’ve always done, because I don’t merely want what I’ve always got, then I must embrace and welcome the changes that are part of every day. I don't want to be in the past. I must continue to explore ways that I fit into today and into all the days to come, to find my place in an ever changing world.