Imagine a lab rat in a maze experiment. He spends all his time roaming around the different hallways and avenues of the maze, with one thing on his mind: getting the cheese. Suddenly, dead ahead, there it is. A beautiful, golden-yellow block of cheese. The rat runs towards it and devours his tasty treat. His temporary desires are satisfied, and thus he is satisfied. But our rat friend truly has not accomplished much of anything.
He’s trapped in a maze and is blissfully unaware of it.
Most people have daily routines that they follow. Many people follow a 9-5 work-day routine, while others may have more hectic schedules. Still, human beings naturally like routine because it keeps us comfortable; it makes us feel like everything is going to be alright. We’re doing exactly what we need to be doing, because it’s what we’ve always done and what we plan on always doing, at least for the foreseeable future. But when we are forced to drop everything and drastically change our daily lives for a long and unknown period of time, what happens then? Through the lens of the news, we see mass uncertainty and collective panic. But take it deeper, look at the individual level, and what do we see? We see a collection of people who have never questioned their lives, their routines, their choices, now being given nothing but time… and time…. and time…. to ask and ponder these same questions and more.
I wonder what our answers will be.
Will we emerge from this with a new sense of purpose and calling? Maybe we’ll realize the foolishness in trying to plan out every detail of our lives. Maybe we’ll live in the present by maximizing it and being fully engaged in it, regardless of our surroundings or circumstances.
Maybe we will learn to savor all the small things that we once took for granted so easily. Perhaps we’ll realize how short and fragile this all truly is, and we’ll take risks that our minds and routines stopped us from taking before.
We are not the rat from my above example, because unlike our rat friend, the only barriers in our lives are ourselves. The walls in our lives are all the reasons we tell ourselves that prevent us from being free. Mental barriers can feel impenetrable because we don’t know what’s on the other side; it’s not part of our routine! But once we dare take a risk, break from our norms, and follow our dreams, our infinite potential is that much more realized. We realize that what we were scared of is nothing more than our uncertainty of the unknown.
Before we dare to break routine and embark on our journey towards the unknown, the fear can overwhelm and even paralyze us. But after we take that first step, we wonder why we were ever afraid in the first place.