#144: Do You Follow Blindly?

I once read that if you move a herd of sheep from one field to another and raise a bar off the ground that the first sheep will jump over the bar and the second will follow and the third and so on. Then, if the bar is removed, the following sheep will continue to jump over the non-existent bar. simply because that's what the ones before it did.

How often in our lives do we blindly follow what others have done? How often do we do things because that's how they have always been done, never questioning the rationale behind the actions?

Because something has always been done a certain way is no reason to continue doing it that way if improved, more efficient methods are available.

How often do we hear from someone set in their ways that there's always someone who wants to change things, upsetting the apple cart if you will.

Well, sometimes things need to be shaken up a bit. Even in our homes we rearrange the furniture once in a while, don't we?

There is a story about a woman who brought home a ham and proceeded to cut off the end. Her husband asked her why. "Because my mother always cut off the end." He asked her mother why she always cut the end off of the ham. "Because my mother always cut the end off of the ham." He then called the grandmother and asked why she always cut the end off of the ham. "Because my cooking pan wasn't big enough," she said.

Blindly following the same exercise routines and eating the same foods gets boring rather quickly. Muscles need to be exercised from different angles to make them develop properly. Keeping our palates guessing will help us avoid random eating due to boredom of having the same meals every day.

Are you someone who blindly follows like a sheep what everyone else is doing, without justification? Do you cut the end off of the ham for no known reason?

Try freshening up your routines. Try different things. Rearrange the furniture of your life and gain new perspectives.

Realize that the bar may not exist.

If it doesn't, then there's no reason to keep jumping, is there?