This Is Not The Time To Break The Wheel!
There’s a time and a place for everything, and now is not the time to break the wheel. Wisdom is profitable to direct.
— From Dayo, as she experiences and learns. Welcome to The Mind Palace!
road bump
Hold on, isn’t that good advice?
To not stick to the usual?
To step out of the box?
To avoid the bandwagon effect?
To not mindlessly pass years then lie on your death bed wishing you did x and regretting you did y!
Now, I just told you why you should break the wheel, but this post is not controversial. Follow me, would you?
highway
There’s a time to fight or work and a time to rest, a time to study and a time to celebrate. You get the point. And there is most definitely a time to not stick to the flow, a time to break out into a new, the new you’ve always wanted, the new you’ve always dreamt of. You living a fulfilling life depends on it. And if it’s work or career, you doing something phenomenal depends on it [breaking the wheel]. But like all things, there are pros and cons.
speed break
Reinventing the wheel has a bad side? That’s like saying innovation is wrong! What in the world?!
Calm down honey, and keep following, would you :|
highway
See, there’s a reason why the wheel was made, but not just that, there’s a reason why the wheel keeps moving. Why? Because it works.
I’m not going to state that ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ because I believe that’s an expensive life philosophy. An appliance, ok but a life philosophy, pass. Instead, I am going to suggest that some aspects of your life, heck my life, do not need you or me to recreate a new path. And for the ones that need reinvention, the timing of the creation is vital.
I absolutely do not need to devise a new way of eating food. I take bites and digest them. Period. Developing a robot that will have to learn what types of food I eat, what different paces I eat with, how my current actions and thoughts affect how I will eat whether I love the food or not would be complicating things, wasting time and wasting energy.
road turn
What brought this up?
Let me give you context.
I’m in exam period, and a few days ago, I was studying. The course I was studying annoyed me I got annoyed at the course at the beginning of the school year for two reasons. Well, one reason, the second is a product of the first: I could not take the course I wanted to, and so, I resorted to picking at the course.
What is this course you might ask? Pulp and Paper Production. Exactly. The name of the course alone incites annoyance. In 2022, when the world is raving about blockchain and EVs, I’m learning how to make pulp! Goodness me! (If you give a care about Pulp and Paper, that’s fine. I don’t. I’m also not going to pretend to.)
However, the school year is ending and I do not regret taking the course. Earlier in the semester, if I could take the course I wanted to, I would. But now, I know how the semester would have gone if I had done what I wanted, and I’m okay that I chose Pulp and Paper. I think because I know.
A lot of former students chose this course for whatever reason I don’t know. But we’re students so I can guess lol. The main point is that they did it and liked that they did it, why that end result? You see sometimes (insert James Earl Jones’ voice), we dare to be different not for public praise but because it’s challenging. I like challenges but the effort the course would have demanded within the time frame while being subjected to external factors (other courses, the school I attend, other parts of my life), I just could not give.
Well, I could give, but I would have had to die a little. I would have had to stretch myself thin, and in an environment where I need to have a good amount of above-par mental, emotional and physical health, it was not the wise decision to take. Doing Pulp and Paper made me have time and energy for other just as important things. It eased my plate.
Saying yes to everything is not good for my health, my sanity or my productivity, so why should I say yes to everything? Na only who dey alive fit read book.
In this case, I did not have to break or reinvent the wheel by taking the course I wanted to — Polymer something, can’t remember the title now. It would have been ‘breaking the wheel’ because, again, a lot of students regularly take the course most likely due to its ease. (When you don’t have to calculate as an engineering student, you feel it’s a piece of cake.)
end of trip
Your case may be different (most likely) but think clearly before you make a call you think is the best but turns out to be frustrating and likely to affect the end result negatively.
Right now, I have an edge: I know the end result. You don’t. But apply the reasoning:
- Why does the wheel work?
- Why has the wheel been working for this long?
- And an extra: Is there convincing proof that if I break the wheel, I will get a significantly better result?
💡 Remember darling, don’t play it safe but don’t play it foolishly.
Until next time,
Dayo :)
