virgin islands scene

Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.
-- Arthur Schopenhauer
 

 

Monday, April 29, 1996

Complacency

Are you comfortable?

I hope you’re not too comfortable. Comfort and complacency can destroy the meaning in your life. If you’re not growing, then you are withering.

Have you already been successful and accumulated a lot of money? Then you can either sit back and “enjoy” it by doing nothing meaningful, or you can build on your initial success and go on to even greater accomplishments.

Complacency is dangerous for anyone, no matter how rich or poor. When life has no meaning, it doesn’t matter how much money you have. Wherever you are, there is always room to grow. What is the point of living if you’re not a part of life?

Complacency doesn’t just affect rich people. No matter how poor you are, you can always find someone who is even worse off. And by way of comparison, you can feel relatively comfortable. Don’t allow yourself to fall into this trap. Judge yourself by your own standards, not by comparison to others.

Before you do something, ask yourself, “Will this help me to grow, or will it cause me to fall back?” Sometimes the same experience or event can go either way. For example, if you’re going to a party, you can either park yourself by the bar and get drunk, or you can “work the crowd", meeting people, interacting, exchanging ideas, and networking.

In every situation, be wary of complacency, and look for ways to grow.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1996 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.