Autopilot
Hello wonderful readers,
It’s Monday, so you know what that means; a new blog post!!
I can feel your excitement, especially on a Monday morning (if that is when you are reading this, if it’s not Monday morning, I can feel your enthusiasm even more)!
With summer quickly approaching here in Wisconsin, it not only means the weather is warming up and we are all enjoying the beautiful outdoors, it also means construction season has begun. We all know how necessary construction can be, but we also know how inconvenient it can be.
I recently was driving to work and noticed a sign that noted “construction stating May 14th, please use alternative route”. I read this sign and understood it, but I was not overly concerned as it was just the beginning of May and I had time to think of other ways to drive into work.
Well, May 14th quickly came and I was driving to work on my usual route and was quickly stopped by a “road closed” sign. I shook my head as I recalled reading the sign and not actually changing my route to avoid the construction. I drove an extra ten or so minutes out of my way to go around the construction to make it into work.
I am sure we have all experienced this as a driver. We see the construction signs, make a mental note to change our driving route, and when the construction stops us in our path, we then recall we never changed our actions. It is frustrating, but it is no ones fault but our own.
The next day I found myself traveling my same normal route to be stopped by the same “road closed” sign. I went through the same thought process, “man this stinks, but it is my fault for traveling this way and functioning as though I am on autopilot.”
This idea stopped me in my train of thought. I am the one behind the wheel, operating this vehicle and I was just going through the motions to drive into work. Yes, I am functioning with my eyes open. Yes, I am conscious of my movements, but I am not truly processing all of my actions and sometimes even thoughts.
I started to run with this idea of functioning on autopilot and asked myself “in what other areas of my life am I just operating on autopilot?”
This idea started to evolve and morph into something much larger than my initial mistake while driving my car into a construction zone.
I function on autopilot in many areas of my life, and you possibly are too.
We are all human and we do get caught up in our day to day actions, but I firmly believe we can make a conscious change if we notice the area of improvement and are honest with ourselves.
One area of my day that I function on autopilot is during small talk.
For example, someone asks me “How are you?”
I quickly respond without a moment of hesitation, “I am doing well, how are you?”
Most of the time their response is “I am doing good.”
And then we both go on throughout our day almost as though we never communicated at all. Sometimes this brief conversation takes place in passing.
I am a connector. Someone who enjoys really diving deep and having the tough, sometimes, uncomfortable conversations. But, I do respect the fact that not everyone is in the mental space I am in, and that is perfectly okay. I do believe that functioning on autopilot does not help any of us in any aspect of life.
We do not live on this planet to just move through the motions and just exist. We are here on this planet for a reason. (This is a topic I could dedicate another post to, so I will save my thoughts on that topic for another week). Autopilot is not a space we should live in for long, or honestly, at all.
Another area I am on autopilot in my life is when discussing my day with my husband when we come home from work. Trevor and I are fortunate enough to work at the same company, but we ask one another “How was your day?”
We normally respond in a similar fashion to this question as the “how are you” question, by responding “It was good, how as your day?” The other provides a similar response and we go on with our evening.
Something we started doing instead of posing this question is to change the question completely. Instead of “how was your day?”
We ask one another, “What happened during your day that challenged you?
“What is something that happened today that made you laugh?”
“What is something today that inspired you?”
“What is something today that you were proud of?”
Feel free to use these questions yourself or come up with more personal questions when speaking with your family, loved ones, or roommates. Changing the question allows us to break the autopilot response and think of what happened during the day and share. Make sure to switch up the questions to keep it interesting. It really changes the tempo within the conversation and you might even learn something new! Win-Win-Win! (Yes, I am quoting The Office here if you caught that)
So, my question to you this week is, what areas of your life do you function on autopilot?
Are there areas you can change or alter your thoughts or actions to take yourself out of an autopilot state?
Feel free to share your questions below in the comment section or send it to me personally. Trevor and I have had a blast asking one another different questions at the end of the day.
Thank you all so much for reading!
Have a great week everyone!
Subscribe, comment and share.
Together, we rise. One breath at a time.
Namasté
It’s Monday, so you know what that means; a new blog post!!
I can feel your excitement, especially on a Monday morning (if that is when you are reading this, if it’s not Monday morning, I can feel your enthusiasm even more)!
With summer quickly approaching here in Wisconsin, it not only means the weather is warming up and we are all enjoying the beautiful outdoors, it also means construction season has begun. We all know how necessary construction can be, but we also know how inconvenient it can be.
I recently was driving to work and noticed a sign that noted “construction stating May 14th, please use alternative route”. I read this sign and understood it, but I was not overly concerned as it was just the beginning of May and I had time to think of other ways to drive into work.
Well, May 14th quickly came and I was driving to work on my usual route and was quickly stopped by a “road closed” sign. I shook my head as I recalled reading the sign and not actually changing my route to avoid the construction. I drove an extra ten or so minutes out of my way to go around the construction to make it into work.
I am sure we have all experienced this as a driver. We see the construction signs, make a mental note to change our driving route, and when the construction stops us in our path, we then recall we never changed our actions. It is frustrating, but it is no ones fault but our own.
The next day I found myself traveling my same normal route to be stopped by the same “road closed” sign. I went through the same thought process, “man this stinks, but it is my fault for traveling this way and functioning as though I am on autopilot.”
This idea stopped me in my train of thought. I am the one behind the wheel, operating this vehicle and I was just going through the motions to drive into work. Yes, I am functioning with my eyes open. Yes, I am conscious of my movements, but I am not truly processing all of my actions and sometimes even thoughts.
I started to run with this idea of functioning on autopilot and asked myself “in what other areas of my life am I just operating on autopilot?”
This idea started to evolve and morph into something much larger than my initial mistake while driving my car into a construction zone.
I function on autopilot in many areas of my life, and you possibly are too.
We are all human and we do get caught up in our day to day actions, but I firmly believe we can make a conscious change if we notice the area of improvement and are honest with ourselves.
One area of my day that I function on autopilot is during small talk.
For example, someone asks me “How are you?”
I quickly respond without a moment of hesitation, “I am doing well, how are you?”
Most of the time their response is “I am doing good.”
And then we both go on throughout our day almost as though we never communicated at all. Sometimes this brief conversation takes place in passing.
I am a connector. Someone who enjoys really diving deep and having the tough, sometimes, uncomfortable conversations. But, I do respect the fact that not everyone is in the mental space I am in, and that is perfectly okay. I do believe that functioning on autopilot does not help any of us in any aspect of life.
We do not live on this planet to just move through the motions and just exist. We are here on this planet for a reason. (This is a topic I could dedicate another post to, so I will save my thoughts on that topic for another week). Autopilot is not a space we should live in for long, or honestly, at all.
Another area I am on autopilot in my life is when discussing my day with my husband when we come home from work. Trevor and I are fortunate enough to work at the same company, but we ask one another “How was your day?”
We normally respond in a similar fashion to this question as the “how are you” question, by responding “It was good, how as your day?” The other provides a similar response and we go on with our evening.
Something we started doing instead of posing this question is to change the question completely. Instead of “how was your day?”
We ask one another, “What happened during your day that challenged you?
“What is something that happened today that made you laugh?”
“What is something today that inspired you?”
“What is something today that you were proud of?”
Feel free to use these questions yourself or come up with more personal questions when speaking with your family, loved ones, or roommates. Changing the question allows us to break the autopilot response and think of what happened during the day and share. Make sure to switch up the questions to keep it interesting. It really changes the tempo within the conversation and you might even learn something new! Win-Win-Win! (Yes, I am quoting The Office here if you caught that)
So, my question to you this week is, what areas of your life do you function on autopilot?
Are there areas you can change or alter your thoughts or actions to take yourself out of an autopilot state?Feel free to share your questions below in the comment section or send it to me personally. Trevor and I have had a blast asking one another different questions at the end of the day.
Thank you all so much for reading!
Have a great week everyone!
Subscribe, comment and share.
Together, we rise. One breath at a time.
Namasté
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