Complacency doesn’t move you forward – it just holds you back

“The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.” – Benjamin E. Mays

Recently, a dear co-worker from a past life was laid off from her job. She is immensely talented, engaging, inspiring, creative, and now another sad statistic from this unprecedented global pandemic.

She was employed by the organization for over a decade, and in that time had seen many people come and go while she remained committed and hopeful that the longer she remained with the company the more opportunities would be provided.

But as with many organizations who are plagued by the absence of credible leadership, those opportunities were promised repeatedly but never delivered.

While I was certainly saddened by the unavoidable circumstances surrounding her departure, a part of me was pleased she’d been given a little push.

Yes, the ending was less than ideal for someone of her tenure and talents, but I’m glad she’s no longer a prisoner to complacency – stuck in a comfort zone which rarely leads to anything rewarding.

I don’t mean to sound insensitive at all, believe me, and I’m well aware of the struggles of unemployment during times of uncertainty.

But my own professional and personal ups and downs have taught me what might appear to be a misfortune, can oftentimes be a blessing in disguise.

Alex and Brett Harris, founders of The Rebelution, a youth Christian ministry organization, once said that, “Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes and causes a drain in the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. “Good enough” becomes today’s watchword and tomorrows standard.”

Look at your relationships, your careers, your routines and even your dreams. Look hard and ask yourself if you’ve settled into complacency. While there’s nothing wrong with embracing contentment, the days, weeks, months and years of your life should never be classified as just “good enough”.