Choosing the Stairs
What may be a convenience versus what makes you complacent? Walking through the lobby of my apartment complex, I face the same crossroad everyday. I live on the third floor which means most trips with grocery bags in hand are a hassle. Yet, I’ve never waited for the elevator. Instead, I kick the stairwell door open and trot up the three flights. I’m not about taking the easy way.
People gravitate towards paths of least resistance, but conveniences are offered as a suggestion to simplify a problem. Its important to note, that paths of least resistance do not determine the behavior of all individual human beings. That means we all have a choice in how we participate in these social systems. We can choose to move off the path, but in doing so, be pressured from others to get back in line.
As an avid runner, I would describe my athleticism somewhere between the line of The fastest of the slow or The slowest of the fast. When I run a city 5k or 10k, everyone from speedsters and their mothers are out there participating. If I run in a marathon, I’m buried somewhere above the lifestyle runners and below the elite. The big shift is when I run in a trail race. From the elevation change to the relentless obstacles, these races are not only about speed, but strength, technique and agility. The harder the race, the less people that are willing to participate and therefore, my odds of finishing in the top goes way up. It’s not like I run faster or better in these races, but the idea that the path less traveled will have less competition is the key point I’ve recognized.
As individual members of society, we are all participating in a range of different social systems. For example, the family unit is a social system. So are schools, police departments, corporations, and societies as a whole. Patriarchies are also an example of a complex interlocking social system.
To paraphrase sociologist Allan G. Johnson, it’s the dynamic relationship between us as individuals and these larger social systems that makes social life happen. All social systems include sets of rules, or social norms which participants are expected to adhere to in order to insure the system functions smoothly.
When you’re standing between a stairwell and an elevator, which do you choose? Do you stand and wait as the system comes to you and carries you at its pace or do you take the stairs where you can walk or run your way up, arriving at your destination on your own speed? Challenge yourself to take the harder paths. Avoid the conveniences. Be the small fish in an even smaller pond.