"I guess I'm in a rut, but I like it that way. What's wrong with that?"
Perhaps you've said something like that. Most of us have. 
Being in a rut can feel as cozy as wrapping up in a warm blanket on a cold day.
After all, past experience taught us that as long as we stay in the known we can handle the demands of our life. If the rest of our world thinks we're out of step, well, that's just too bad.
Change makes most of us squirm.
Maybe that's because coping with change always involves effort
Another friend raved about why her new smart phone was worth the asking price. The woman in the next chair said, "I'm keeping my dinosaur phone until it dies. I don't want to figure out one of those fancy new gadgets. It's too much brain damage."
To adapt–whether it's a new gadget or a new idea–involves learning. And unlearning.
Staying flexible and open to new ideas requires time and involves stress as we adapt. It's easier to think and do things in the same old way, including how we relate to the people in our lives.
We don't have to figure out a new way.
No wonder we like our ruts
I confess, occasionally I've used my rut(s) as an excuse, too.
It's as if I hunker down in that known place, quite contented with myself and my own point-of-view. Don't bother me, please.
The trouble is, we live in a time when changes come so fast they dizzy us. Who hasn't wished they could put the world on pause for just a little while, long enough to catch our breath?
But we can't. Resisting change often seems the only tactic available to us.
People who want to dig in and hang onto the status quo have a point, but that keeps us stuck.
So how do we handle it?
The other day I ran across a quote I hadn't thought about for years.
This pithy line came from a speaker at a business convention. At the time it hit me like a much-needed whack on the side of the head. I scribbled this rhyme on my program and later memorized the simple truth of it. For awhile I repeated it often, but then I let it go.
Yet these words still pack a punch:
The only difference between a rut and a grave
is that a grave is deeper and the ends are closed.
I wish it weren't true, but that's a truth some of us have to learn. And relearn. And relearn again.
What about you?
Right now, if you sense a need to change in some way, why not ask God to open your understanding? That's step one. Then open your mind and your heart to listen.
Do you want to make changes? Branch out in a new direction? Be happier in the life you have? Grow deeper in your faith in Jesus?
Then here's a Bible verse for you–and for us all.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20 NIV
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