“Trying times are for trying new things.”
~Jane Pauley

It’s easy to get caught in a rut. To take the same actions. Ask the same questions. Try the same solutions. They say that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. That’s a rut in and of itself, I suppose.

Ruts can always hinder and limit us. They keep us from growing and expanding, from trying something new. This is especially true when things are tough.

I don’t know about you, but when I face tough times I often hunker down and keep doing the same things, even if they’re the ones that may have gotten me to my tough times in the first place. I can get stuck in fear and lose my ability, and willingness, to branch out and try something new. I follow the rules I’ve been given (or made up in my mind) and keep on trying. And trying. Perhaps repeating, like the Little Engine that Could, “I think I can. I think I can.” Or perhaps stubbornly insisting that this time it will work. This time whatever I’ve been doing will get me somewhere new.

According to Jane Pauley, trying times are exactly the times when we should push away from our rut and try new things. Even though this plays against my old patterns of behavior, it makes sense. “When life gets tough, the tough get going,” they say. When things are tough, it’s perhaps the best time to try new answers and look for new solutions.

Trying new things may open us up to options we haven’t considered. Trying new things may introduce us to people we haven’t met and ideas we haven’t thought of. Trying new things may help us get through trying times.

Try it.

How do you get through trying times?
Please leave a comment.

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