Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil will peek his head above the ground and tell us how many days of winter is left.
With it being Groundhog Day, do you remember the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day? The film starred Bill Murray as Phil Connors. He was a weatherman covering a groundhog day event and gets caught in a time loop where he relives the same day over and over and over again.
Photo by Peter Clarkson
The film is funny. Seeing Phil relive the same day, again and again, is funny. What’s not funny is that you and I can live Phil’s repeated day and not even realize the trap we’re caught in.
Are You Living On Repeat?
I look at my life and see I get caught on repeat quite often. My daily schedule looks the same. I wake up at the same time, go to the same office for work, do the same thing for lunch, head home, spend time with Pam and Lok, and so forth.
It’s almost like I’m caught in a groundhog day moment. And I’m content with the repetitiveness of my life. Until I’m not.
The times I realize what I’m doing and how it’s the same as yesterday gets to me. I see my life slip, slip, slipping away and it feels like I’m not making any progress.
I lay my head on the pillow only to awake to the same routine as yesterday.
It’s like my life is on repeat. Do you find yourself there too? Are you living on repeat?
Break The Record
But what can we do to get out of the rut we’ve made for ourselves? How can we stop living on repeat and discover what we’re truly meant to do?
We’ve got to break the record. Snap the frail pieces of life holding us in a repeating pattern and break free from the repetitiveness.
This seems daunting. I have to break something?!? That sounds scary.
Getting out of a rut is scary. Your choice to do something different means you’re not going to know what happens next. You’re stepping into the unknown.
Ruh-roh Shaggy!
Yet you have to change things if you want things to change. You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. You have to put different inputs in to get different results.
So, break the record and get out of your Groundhog Day.
Stop Living A Groundhog Day Life
Are you ready to make a change? Are you ready to stop living a groundhog day life? I know you are.
Here’s a few things you can do today to begin to break free from the repetitiveness of your daily grind.
- Change the way you drive to or from work – We get stuck in a repeat pattern of doing the same things. Choose today to drive to or from work along a different route. Take note of what you see and sense as you’re driving. How is it different than your normal route? What can you learn from the different sights, sounds, and scents on the different path?
- Use your less dominant hand to accomplish a task – You’re used to doing everything with your dominant hand. I know I’m used to using my right hand to pick up things, write, and more. Choosing to use my left hand makes me more intentional in the tasks I attempt to accomplish using it.
- Do something special for a loved one – Friends and family aren’t guaranteed to be here tomorrow. Old age, disease, accidents… All of these things can quickly take away someone you care about. Instead of thinking about you and your needs today, could you take action and do something special for someone you love? Don’t hesitate, go do it now. This action will have a ripple effect as you begin to show others you care.
- Spark up a conversation with a stranger – You want to get out of a rut quickly? Go spark up a conversation with someone you don’t know. You could make a new friend. Or you could learn something you didn’t know before.
Getting out of our groundhog day loop is simple. We have to make choices that alter the normal course of our day. But the choice is yours. Do you want to keep living the life you’ve lived over and over again or do you want to live something new?
Question: Have you found yourself living a groundhog day life? What have you done to change it? Let’s talk about it in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.