RUNNING IN CIRCLES

Hamster's running in a wheel is a curious thing. One wonders why? Why go through life running in circles?

As it turns out, hamsters run on wheels because it satisfies their natural instinct to move long distances, provides physical exercise, and triggers a pleasurable “runner’s high” through brain reward systems. And it seems that they never tire of getting on that wheel that takes them nowhere.

We are not hamsters. However, we sometimes live like we are. There are times in our lives where we may feel like we are stuck in a hamster's wheel running in circles. A wheel that takes us nowhere. A future that was once beaming with possibilities, dreams, hopes, aspirations and so much more. But now, life is set on a repeat cycle.

Time, lack of opportunities, age, location, circumstances are part of what begins to take its toll on moving ahead, seeing a future, draining the ambition to reach forward and instead resigning to sit on the couch wasting away.

It is possible that the dreams and aspirations of an earlier time do not fit where you are now. That does not mean that you are at a dead end.

Harlan Sanders had a very colorful life. He bounced around trying his hand at many different jobs and careers. But none of them worked out for Harlan. He ended up running a gas station where he began to serve food on the side. He found more joy in cooking than running that gas station. And his food began to get a reputation. Top of the menu was his famous chicken with its 11 herbs and spices that he developed as his secret recipe. His love for cooking as a side hustle ended up becoming a multi-million-dollar business that we now know as Kentucky Fried Chicken. And Harlan became known as Colonel Sanders.

Possibly it is time to REVIVE your spirit to see once again the opportunities and possibilities that are around you. It may be something you already are doing without realizing the potential.

If it is your career that you are feeling like you are that hamster in the wheel, running but stuck, then possibly look at what it is that you really have a passion for and look into what can be done to start moving you into that direction. Maybe it is seeing the need for a small shuttle or taxi service for seniors, or that hotdog stand you always thought about. Check out how others were able to do what it is that you really want to do to determine if that is something possible for you as well.

There are those that thrive at their job or career, and if not at work doing their thing, they don't know what else to do with themselves. For them, work is their life. There is a life meant for us to enjoy outside of work that can be fulfilling as well. Some follow their passion or dream of wanting to learn how to paint, do pottery, photography, learn a language, take some courses, sign up for pickleball, bowling leagues and more.

Possibly your marriage has gotten routine, stale, uneventful and predictable. Habits are formed over time and repetition. Let me note here that there is nothing wrong with routines that help provide a foundation to build from. Healthy routines that are developed over time and repetition. Routines that both parties find comfort in and embrace. Those habits that offer stability in the home and in a relationship.

Reviving things in the home is simply a matter of adjusting from the mundane to inserting some other habits. Daily walks together, adding some of the previously mentioned activities such as learning to bowl and joining a league, picking up pickleball together, starting a cooking series together on a social platform. What is it that you both enjoy that you can invest in together?

For me, it has always been songwriting. Starting out 50 years ago, to make music you needed to go into a studio. And, usually you also had to have a band to create the songs you wrote. I did that a few times. then to flesh out songs I used two cassette decks to ping pong recordings back and forth to layer the sound. Then 8-track reel-to-reel came out that made it possible to record 8 channels without going to the studio. Portable digital recording gear came next. This opened up a whole new means of songwriting. Recording and producing then moved to the computer, and finally to the laptop as software came out that offered a world of possibilities. I have gone through all of these stages. However, there was never enough time to solely focus on music until this year. And after all this time, all the things that never existed before that now make it finally possible to write and record the type of songs I have always heard but could not really do.

Once Yvonne and I got married and I learned that she loved music as well, and that she could sing, we started to do music together. First in bands and then as a duo. We have been doing music ever since on some level. We find joy in it. And if nothing else happens in the process, the joy we get is in itself a great reward.

This blog site is another passion we have. To help and encourage couples. Although it laid dormant for a period of time, we are just now able to get back to some of the things ourselves that I have been addressing in this post.

For the latest in music, you can click on the link below:

Just know, no matter what your age, and no matter what it is that you would like to do, it is never too late. You may be the next Colonel Sanders!

Until the next post, we wish you LOVE, JOY & PEACE!

Brad & Yvonne