I’ll get to the point. Everyone is shaped by competing environments. One is our inner sanctuary, the spaces in our hearts and minds. By extension, this would be our home where we feel most secure being ourselves. The competition is the environment beyond our home. The two compete daily for our attention and energy.

Most of us employ ourselves in the outer environment to secure and enrich our inner environment. Yet we’re usually distracted from our biggest goals by the elements in our very homes receiving our constant attention. The television, the phone, the desktop, the refrigerator, the bed, the couch, our toys, our gadgets and games.

Life at home becomes too standardized and predictable. And after a while, monotonous. So, what do we do? We head outside for some entertainment. Then once we’re back indoors, the little hamster we are starts his running in place on the same wheel again.

As we mature, and if we value our time, we understand there are many hidden gems in the world beyond our front door, yes. Aspects of life beyond the rigors of a winner takes all paradigm. Good people, vital institutions, the wonders of nature, unexpected surprises. But you have to train yourself to notice and take advantage of those goods. If you want to get out of your rut and into this world of possibilities, here’s a secret.

Take a closer look about your inner sanctuary. There’s just as many treasures hidden there as there are in your life outside the home. Notice the littlest things. Those things forgotten in the corners, on shelves, buried deep in drawers, or otherwise collecting dust. What about those novel ideas begging for attention from the back of your mind? Or those unexplored feelings deep in your heart? Any of these items can trigger a life changing epiphany. Study old photographs, listen to songs you haven’t heard in twenty, thirty, or forty years. Clean out that closet like you’ve planned to for the last year and a half. Take notice of things you’ve overlooked and how good they make you feel.

Eat that container of cabbage that’s now been in the back of the fridge at least seven or eight weeks. You might suffer a stomachache for it. Consequently, you may have to stay home from work. While your home, you might receive a call from someone you haven’t heard from in years. Their voice alone might make you feel like your life just couldn’t get any better.

What about that drawing pad and those pencils and crayons you’ve dismissed for years? Pick them up. Put them to use. Take time and hone your craft. All or none of these options may appeal or apply to you, but either way my point has practical significance. Your inner sanctuary, your inner world holds the key to an exit out of any mediocre stretch of time. Properly utilized, this key unlocks a favorable combination of circumstances in the world outside your front door. The way in is the way out.

You must go into a library to come out of it with new knowledge. You must go into some field as an amateur to come out of it a skilled professional. You must delve into your own heart and mind to turn out an emotionally and socially capable individual.

You can find in your spiritual and physical inner environments, useful material. Go to work with this stuff. Something formerly forgotten or misunderstood can be of mighty significance to your future. You never know. Such things might also be beneficial to others beyond your front door.

In this way there can be less conflict between how we feel when we’re thoughtful at home and how we think in the world beyond our front door. There doesn’t have to be fantastic contrast between these environments. Truly, we can find ourselves at home wherever we go. As long as we’re mindful of our surroundings. Starting first and foremost with what’s inside. Try it.

If, however, you don’t find inspiration or value anywhere, you always have some to talk to at the Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787. Or call 988.