Shifting out of autopilot
Hi, internet.
I just wanted to share my brain fart with you. It’s been brewing a while but it came to a head this evening and I thought “I must get pen to paper”, which I did, and now here I am relieving the gas...
Do you ever notice how stuck we get in our ways?
Like when you’re doing something in a certain way, like carving out an avocado with a spoon, and someone exclaims: “Oh! I’d never even considered doing it like that!” and they add the new idea to the mounting mass of information in their mind.
And although I consider myself to be quite a spontaneous person, I do wonder about the things that I never question, like;
Why do I always take the left fork in the road, even though i know the right ultimately leads the same way? And I know that a change of scenery really resets my minds!
And why do I chew all of my food on the right side of my mouth, doesn’t the left side wanna join the party?
And why do I always go to sit on that bench for lunch, why not take a stroll through the woods instead?
Lately I’ve been calling myself out on the patterns of behavior, some much deeper than these seemingly mundane choices that we make most minutes of the day. But the changes made in addressing the little choices, forces us to look at how we behave when making some of the bigger ones, like why do we always go for the same impossible-to-sustain relationships? Or why do we always give up on something after only a few months of trying? After all, what really is life but a shit-tonne of choices, presented as some sort of game in which, essentially, you will neither win nor loose?
I mean, maybe you do often try the other way around, and power to you for that! Because thinking openly, noticing your patterns, actually listening to those around you who notice your patterns (good or bad), and trying new ways to do things however trivial they may seem, is a sure-fire way to keep yourself out of auto-pilot mode, and doing life more free-style. Feeling more alive.
What portion of your life do you spend mindlessly on repeat?
And however comforting that routine may be, might it be time to rip off the security blanket? To walk some new roads?
And you know, in these last few months, some of us extroverts have really discovered the joy that can be found in solitude. But in the end, however replenishing time to yourself may be, spending time with others, especially those who are different to you, helps us break free from patterns, and presents us with a key to the door of a world unexplored. A step on the path towards mutual understanding.
The concept may sound simple, but I believe that empathy is actually one of the rarest but most essential senses amongst all of mankind. And if we are wishing to save our world in this lifetime, or at least to boost the platform for generations following our own, then with empathy is where we must begin.
Because with empathy, comes compassionate understanding, and once we truly understand one another, and what it means to be a human being, then what else is there to it?
What greater act of love exists beyond the effort to truly understand another?
These small decisions may seem meaningless, but let’s give them meaning! Why not fill every conscious crevice of your life with radical significance?
And for the unconscious corners, let us go and be still with them, learn from them. Let the quieter moments be the main show. The chorus to your song. Because when you’re feeling lost, powerless, or just stuck on auto-pilot, these will be the moments that will truly bring you back to yourself, and the little decisions will be the ones to fill your life with the meaning you crave.
