Survival Mode

“You’re not lazy, unmotivated or stuck. It’s just that after years of living life in survival mode, you’re exhausted.” – Raylene MacNamera

After nearly a year and a half of chaos in the world, this line from Mrs. MacNamera really hits home for many of us. As for me, although I’ve continued my own process of reading, listening, and associating, it’s been over a year since I’ve blogged. When I ponder why the long hiatus, I can’t come up with an answer that satisfies my melancholy personality.

Was I too inwardly focused to share my thoughts with others?

Were my habits so out of kilter that I never considered my blog?

Did I simply have nothing to say? (My wife would refute this immediately…)

I believe that Raylene’s quote hits home – as many of us have been, I’ve been exhausted. Physically exhausted? Probably not… I haven’t even kept up my recommended exercise routine. Mentally exhausted? Possibly… although I feel more alive towards my purpose than I ever have. Emotionally exhausted? Potentially… I only dream in the colors of my apartment, since I’ve been working from home for 16 months.

Ultimately I know that our results come from our behaviors, our behaviors come from our paradigms and thought process, and I believe THAT is where many of us are exhausted – survival mode in every area of our lives is exhausting.

And there’s no quick fix – there’s no magic bean that any of us can offer to move us from lethargy to productivity… no seminar or webinar that we can attend that can instantly change the backward momentum of our mental state… but every small action that I take carries me out of my state of exhaustion. Jim Rohm says it correctly: “You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but. you can change yourself.”

When exhausted, I will come back to my circle of influence. I will take personal responsibility for my state of survival and the emotions that come along with it. I will modify my inputs, read more, listen more, guard my association, and as the Bible says, guard my heart. We have all spent time in survival mode. It is empowering to remember that we don’t have to stay there forever.

Just a thought.

Chris Craft