It may seem like a juggling act to keep fresh and avoid complacency in everything we do. In fact, it is an act. It's a skill you can learn. Like juggler, we do our best to keep all balls in air. If you look closely, though, you'll notice not all balls are in air at same time. There is always at least one ball in hand. Sometimes balls get dropped. We pick them up and start again.

Keep things fresh in your life, moving, changing, growing and 'up in air' two out of three times and you'll be fine. When you drop a 'ball', by experiencing a mistake or shortcoming, work it out, forgive yourself and everyone involved, and get ball back up there in cycle. We don't focus on that one dropped ball for too long, or they all come tumbling down. Things are going well with work and your relationship, but your health is in poor condition right now? Simply do what you have to do. It gets challenging when a number of new balls are thrown in there for you, but we adapt. We learn. We adjust our attitude.

The underlying requirement of averting complacency in our life is that of attitude. Our attitude is our foundation for everything else in life. When we avert complacency in our thinking, our foundation is strengthened which supports all our efforts. How do we do this? Observe your life. It is a learned skill to stay sharp, to be observant of your actions and reactions. Observe your habits - these are automatic responses. Learn to make more conscious decisions and you become less automatic.

Automatic has its appropriate place. It keeps us focused on a particular area, creating blinders to prevent our distraction from task at hand. This has to be balanced with being open to other possibilities when time is right. We cannot be forward-thinking and complacent at same time. What is so bad about complacency anyways? We get bored with life. We forget what a gift it truly is. We stop being creative beings we were born to be. Being creative brings passion into your life. Once you've got that, possibilities are endless. Now, are you ready to play?

Referring back to our friend Monica for a moment, if she does not express her feelings to her friend Suzy, as in telling her, gently of course, that she needs time to herself, energy created by her thoughts will become repressed. This can manifest as illness/disease or even a cold, depression, a bad mood. The energy needs to go somewhere.

Why do we say nothing, anyways? Is it ultimately beneficial to our progression?

We say nothing to avoid pain, to avoid a confrontation. We say nothing to avoid hurting a friends' feelings. We say nothing in a belief that it takes more energy to speak out. We say nothing in a misguided effort to conserve our already depleted energy.

Carlos Castaneda said, "Whether we improve ourselves or stay same, it takes same amount of energy." Since neither option saves energy over other, why not just do it?

We are each in control of our own lives. This privilege comes with a responsibility for our actions. To lead a successful life, we need to challenge ourselves. We need to continuously examine our lives and push our limitations.

We are only ones who can break through our own limitations. It's our own work to do in this world. So by all means, say nothing, have appearance of being nonassertive, however, if you choose this path, examine your motive, examine your method. Do everything in life on purpose.