What happens when you rely too heavily on the rituals we have in place? Be it the way you get ready for work in the morning, the way you take to the office, or the way you complete your daily tasks. We all sink into a certain way to do things, but what happens when one inconsequential thing changes? The water isn’t working for your morning shower, or the most efficient route to work is closed for construction, or the machine you use to complete your work at the office is on the fritz. It’s time to rethink your ritual.

There’s a story about a monk who would lead his followers in meditation, but just as everyone was reaching their flow states, they would be disrupted by a cat wandering through the temple, purring and meowing for attention. The solution was simple, tie the cat up outside prior to the session so that no one would be bothered during their meditations. This ritual went on for so long that when the cat eventually died, a spiritual crisis emerged. The followers were unsure how to carry out a meditation session without tying up the cat. 

Sounds foolish, but like the monks, we are all perfectly capable of meditating without the cat, as well as successfully getting through any obstacle our day poses. Even if we don’t realize it, just because our sense of normalcy has been disrupted doesn’t mean we can’t figure out a way to move forward. We often create self-imposed limitations with our rituals and defend them because that’s how they’ve always been done. Whether it’s due to our long held rituals, our culture, our education, our skill set, our time, or our budget, we talk ourselves out of being able to complete something simply because something inconsequential is challenging our idea of how everything should be working. However, if you argue for these limitations, the unfortunate part is that you get to keep them.