“I’m just dissatisfied. I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid my life will be like this until I do.” I’ve known so many people wrestling with feelings like that on the inside. They have a growing dissatisfaction, but they don’t know how to get out of it. They think they need to change something, but what?
Change is scary. But sometimes it’s the best thing you can do when you get stuck in a rut.
So how do you know it’s time to make a big life change? Here are a few scenarios that indicate it’s time to make a change.
- When you’ve stopped learning.
- When you are bored.
- When you feel comfortable in your job.
- When things get easy.
- When you’re tempted to give up.
- When most of your time and money is spent on entertaining yourself.
- When you find yourself being ungrateful.
- When you spend much time comparing your works to others.
- When you are becoming overly critical of others.
- When you feel like the world owes you something.
Now, the change doesn’t necessarily have to be drastic. We don’t all need to quit our jobs and move to Africa. But maybe you should try something to shake up your routine. Here are some ideas.
- Go on a missions trip.
- Take up a new hobby that helps others.
- Start doing something romantic for your spouse.
- Backpack across Europe.
- Apply for a promotion at work.
- Start a business on the weekends.
- Learn an instrument.
- See a counselor.
- Make a new friend.
- Try something scary.
If you’re dealing with any of the above scenarios, I encourage you to take the risk and make a calculated change. You don’t have to change everything in your life. But make a positive change to achieve the results you need in order to break free from your rut.
I don’t disagree with anything you said, Jonathan, but the story of ‘old’ Moses came to my mind when reading your post. Imagine what he felt like being a shepherd in the wilderness all those years after living the good life in Pharaoh’s court the first 40 years of his life. I say this also from personal experience, God’s ways of preparing us for greater purpose sometimes takes us through years of boring life in the ruts until we’re ready for more. God give us wisdom to know the difference….