Rena and I are noticing a trend. A lot of us are too overwhelmed by our circumstances to escape our circumstances. The rat race holds us hostage so we can’t escape the rat race.
The Rat Race Defined
The term “rat race” has been used a lot. Many of us have an understanding of what this is. I define the rat race by the following scenario:
We get up. We go to work. We come home, eat dinner, relax a bit. Then we get up and go to work. We play on the weekend. Some time during the month, we pay some bills. The next work day, we get up. We go to work, ad nausea.
The rat race has a sense of living a dreary repetitive life. Often the solution presented is to make a lot of money flipping houses or what not. I disagree with this solution. This solution seems to identify the root problem as not having enough money. However, I think the root problem isn’t money. I believe the root problem is one of meaninglessness. We can become independently wealthy and still be in a dreary meaningless life. We’re still left to find meaning.
If we woke up every day and did something we felt was meaningful, we wouldn’t mind so much. We wouldn’t feel like we were stuck in a rat race. Life would be full of joy, and our work would be an expression of our deepest values. Life seems like a rat race only when we’re doing work that doesn’t feel meaningful to us. Sure, it probably isn’t horrible. If it was horrible, we would have left already. But it’s not awesome either.
Getting Out
The first key to getting out of the rat race is to not let our current circumstances overwhelm us so much that we don’t make any life change. This is a sure recipe for staying stuck. Unfortunately, Rena and I notice a lot of us doing exactly this. I suspect a lot of us believe it’s not possible, or we believe we don’t deserve better. Or we think, “Surely, it will get better eventually.”
Rena and I are living proof it is possible, but it doesn’t just happen. We have to work at it. Also, it’s not about us and what we deserve. It’s about us stepping up for the benefit of others.
The first step is to prioritize our calling near the top of the list. We need to make room for it in our life. For a lot of us, this will involve pushing out of our life other things that aren’t supporting us finding and living our calling. Deciding which things get dropped will be tough. It all seems important. But ditching some things will be essential to getting unstuck.
Then we can slowly migrate our life one step at a time until eventually we find that each day we are:
- doing something we love that we’re awesome at
- involved in something we care about
- making a meaningful difference for other folks either directly or indirectly
If you feel like you’re ready to prioritize your calling and take your next steps, we are starting two new groups. These groups are part book club and part group coaching. The purpose is to help you find your sweet spot so that at the end of your life you’re not wondering if you loved people well and if your life mattered. If you feel like this isn’t right for you right now, no worries. However, if this message speaks to you, we’d love to support you in your journey. You can get more information and register for these groups at the following links:
- Mondays starting Sept 15th (local in Roseville): https://simplygreatlives-bookstudy.eventbrite.com
- Tuesdays starting Sept 16th (remote): https://simplygreatlives-bookstudy-online.eventbrite.com
Tell us. What is something that breaks your heart? And what is something that makes your heart sing?
