Avoiding Complacency
It’s easy to become complacent about so many things, but complacency can sometimes lead to a dull and meaningless life.
What I read: Quotation from Simon Silva.
Typically, in this newsletter I point my readers to something I’ve read, watched, or listened to and then offer my take on it. In this case, I was reading “235. The Danger of Complacency and How to Avoid It” by Jeff Matlow. It’s a good article, but it was the quote at the end of it that encapsulated so much of my thinking about personal development and engagement with life generally.
If complacency is bad for business, it can also be bad for the human spirit.
– Simon Silva, Latino artist
Complacency has been on my mind lately. In the United States, we’re amid a remarkable surge in energy and popularity for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz on the Democratic ticket for the upcoming November election. Anyone who knows anything about me knows I fully support this ticket and Democrats, especially in the current climate of people on the other side of the political spectrum ready to take away our freedoms and rights if they win.
My biggest fear for the next 14 days until the election is that those of us who believe in freedom and democracy become complacent. Please do not be complacent. Be a voter.
Complacency has also been on my mind personally. At 70 years of age, I find myself seeing many of my generational peers becoming complacent. Many of them stopped learning new things. Many of them stopped striving for a meaningful goal. Many of them stopped remaining engaged with their communities. Many of them mistake a life of aiming for nothing of substance as a peaceful retirement from their former day-to-day grind.
I get it. Rest is good. Doing absolutely nothing is beneficial. In “The life sabbatical: is doing absolutely nothing the secret of happiness?” Anita Chaudhuri writes about the benefits of sometimes doing nothing.
As I go about my day in an uncharacteristically cheerful mood, I realise something I’m sure wise sages have always known: doing nothing much can be surprisingly productive.
I’m in full agreement. There are times when I’m aware that doing absolutely nothing, just “being,” is vital to my peace of mind.
But I contend the benefits of doing nothing have their limits. At some point, I believe we should do something, anything, that adds meaning and joy to our lives.
Slowing down isn’t a bad thing. I revel in my mornings awaking without the use of an alarm clock (my favorite thing about no longer working in corporate life). Scheduling my day as I choose is a beautiful luxury for which I’m grateful. The wisdom to shun the judgments of others and live a life by one’s own yardstick of accomplishment is lovely.
But far too often it feels like many people I encounter are simply complacent. Looking at a definition of the word complacent might help hone my argument here.
marked by self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies
It’s the “unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies” part that most concerns me here.
I’m going to make this personal so as not to be directly judging others.
I’m constantly aware of my deficiencies. I’m aware that there’s far more I don’t know than I do know. I’m aware there are always things about myself I want to improve. I’m aware the world around me is in constant need of assistance to make the world a better place for everyone.
Being complacent with all that staring directly as me feels unwise. Taking action, any action that moves me and our society forward in positive ways, even by a tiny nudge, seems like the right thing to do.
You do you, as the saying goes. But I hope you’ll consider not being complacent with where you’re at in life and do things to improve yourself and the world around us.
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