Shake Up The Rug From Underneath Your Feet

Sometimes it seems as if we can't catch a break.  Other times it feels as if we are in the movie Groundhog Day and wake up and re-live the same day over and over, quietly pressing down our desires, passions, and thoughts.  You can get lost in it, over your head in it until you have forgotten what it was like to have focus, to be truly alive.  We are all guilty of it.  The human brain is amorous towards patterns and low resistance.
But we all have desires and passions.  And in moments of true inspiration we connect with those attitudes.  We become focused and move towards a goal that we want for ourselves or our world.  This though, is temporary for most.  It lasts if not only for a moment, only for a short time before being flooded by the brains affinity for the easy.  As efficient and wonderful as it is, the brain is a product of evolution, survival of the fittest.
So how do we gain this focus and keep it?  How do we stay pointed towards what is important, what gives us awe?  And how do we keep it fresh?  How do we keep it from becoming old hat?
The title of this blog was taken from a video I saw by a guy named Jason Silva.  You can google him and find out more about him, but in the video he uses the phrase "Shake up the rug from underneath your feet."  "Disruption makes things new again."
Yesterday, I was working the evening shift.  I had just come back from dinner and was getting ready to begin the second half of my day.  All of a sudden, it started to thunderstorm.  A thick downpour of rain coated the air.  I parked in the parking lot and sat for a minute.  I had a decision to make.  Sit in my truck and watch the lot through the storm?  Drive the boundaries?  I had plenty of indoor projects I could have worked on.  I had already had a rough day, so why not take the dry/easy route and stay in the truck or inside?  Do what anyone else would have done.
But then I remembered that phrase "Shake up the rug from underneath your feet."  I had the opportunity to do something exhilarating.  Something that could help change my focus, give me a sense of awe.  Something that would disrupt my thoughts of low resistance and self constructed patterns and would make me feel alive again.
So I jumped out of the truck, threw on my pack, put my jacket over my pack, and started off.  The rain was thick and heavy, soaking my clothes through almost instantly.  I could feel the water dripping down into my boots after only a few steps.  I had to keep my head tilted down just a smidge to allow the water to drain off of my eye brows and not into my eyes.  It was loud.  It sounded like an orchestrated applause from thousands of people.  The lightning would startle you, even though you knew it was coming.  The thunder was deep, and rumbled through the hills as you could feel it move through your chest.  I stood on the shore of the lake for a while.  The air had been hot earlier in the day.   The wind accompanying the storm made for a welcomed chill.
I hike the trails every day I am at work.  I see the same trees, same animals, same plants and rocks.  But in this storm they were different.  The forest was a different creature all together.  I was immediately inspired.  My brain began to have focus.  I began to feel euphoric and awestruck.  Along with the storm, I had been the architect of my own happiness.  I had made a simple decision to disrupt my normal patterns and walk in the rain.  I felt new again after so many months of feeling broken.
Like a wave, the clutter was washed out, and a clean, new canvas was left.