Well, it was bound to happen! Late Sunday night, after a busy weekend I was headed to bed exhausted. On my way down the hall, I began undressing, letting the day’s clothing fall to the floor and collapsing into the welcoming embrace of freshly cleaned sheets.
In the middle of the night, I awoke and began to navigate my way in the darkness to the bathroom…not remembering that I had littered the floor with my clothing the evening before. Halfway to the bathroom with lights out of course and trying to remain in that wonderful state of half-sleep…. my feet became entangled with the clothing and …down I went. Luckily, I didn’t kill myself but I easily could have. So much for enjoying the remaining night’s sleep.
That night I thought, “I just about killed myself and there is no one to blame…but me!” I was the one that left the clothes on the floor to trip over! I began to wonder if there were other areas of my life where I might be setting myself up for a fall. I wondered what clues I might look for in order to alert myself where I was laying the groundwork for a future TRIP HAZARD…and I found four of them:
T = “Too”.
Anything in my life that I add the word “too” is a trip hazard. Think about any of the following:
“I work too much, I eat too much, I drink too much, I am too nice, I have too much to do, I’m too busy,” feel free to add the ones that are coming to your mind right now…
These simply mean you are out of balance. Like an engine warning light…you are heading for a painful experience. Use this as an opportunity to address your “too” and take immediate steps to get back in balance!
R = “Replay”.
Have you ever caught yourself saying, “Why do we keep having this same conversation or argument over and over again?” Or “Why do I always…?” or “I did it again.” or ” _____ keeps pushing my buttons!”
What you are experiencing is the effect of your “replay” button being pushed. You are connecting with the “emotional baggage” of your past. You need to “re-program” what the situation means to you in a way that will serve you as opposed to working against you. It’s not the other person’s fault…it’s your programming that needs to change!
I = “Insensitivity”.
What this means is that we break the connection between our mind and our heart. It means that we stop allowing things to affect us emotionally. We stop REALLY listening.
How many times have YOU been in conversation and have KNOWN what the other person was going to say? How many times have YOU actually completed the other person’s sentence? How many times have YOU been in conversation with someone when you were actually looking elsewhere?
We need to become a culture that ASKS NEW QUESTIONS and actually listens to the answers…both with our minds and our hearts.
P = “Procrastination”.
Why don’t we do what we want to do? We typically “put off” doing things like: exercise, eating well, having difficult conversations, or doing anything where pain, discomfort, inconvenience, or uncertainty is involved.
As human beings, are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Therefore everything we put off doing is because we believe there is more pain involved in doing the task than in not doing the task. So we avoid it. So what if we actually made NOT doing the task more painful than doing it? I know what you’re thinking…but try it! Take one item you’ve been putting off…and write down all the ways that NOT doing it will be more painful than actually doing it…
Well, I hope these TRIP Hazards brought to mind one or more areas in your life that need to be addressed. If not, great! But if so…then you need to take action on them immediately.
The last thing you want it to have one of them snag you when you least expect it…because they will!
Excuse me…but now I need to go tidy up…