Complacency

We all have those day to day tasks, activities we do on a constant basis as part of our normal routine. When one performs them for the first time, driving a route from home to work for instance, people typically take certain care in what they are doing so they do not miss their destination and get to where they want to be on time. After time though, it becomes common place, you drive the same road everyday to and from work and the brain stops noticing certain things. Small details that at one point or another will be critical for you to pay attention to. You lose the focus you once had because it all happened before, it happened the same way hundreds of times with no change and will happen hundreds more with the same result. You don't expect something different to happen and so you become complacent and unprepared to respond to a change. This is when mistakes happen and accidents are a result.

This time of year is a great example of the importance to remaining ever vigilant, especially while driving. The roads are drying up and motorcyclists are now trickling back onto the roads. This is a variable that is unknown to our roads for several months. People need to remember that motorcycles exist and must be on the look out for them. However, this should be the norm ALL YEAR, we need to be paying attention all the time, to everything around us. Spatial awareness is a basic survival instinct, it should be a no brainer. So why do we need to be reminded time and time again?

The bottom line is complacency. Complacency is defined as: "a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc."  We don't realize it even happens because we feel everything is going well. We have "no room to improve". We are good enough. I feel there is never truly anything that should be "good enough". There is always the potential to be better. This is not to scoff at one's accomplishments, they are certainly worth noting, but you should use those accomplishments and also the mistakes in life as a motivational driving force to do more this time, next time and every time after that.

Take care everyone.