Do you feel stuck in life? Do you feel like your life is going nowhere?
When you feel stuck, you may not know what to do because, well… you’re stuck. I would like to change your thinking. Instead of seeing stuck as the problem, what if it was a symptom of something else.
What if you are living on automatic pilot? Read on to find out how to get unstuck and how to start living in the present moment.
What is automatic pilot?
Before we get started, I want you to know that your automatic pilot can be a good thing.
Let’s take driving a car as an example. When you first start learning to drive, you have to think about every little step. All you can do is focus on driving. But, very quickly you get comfortable and put many of your actions on automatic pilot. This means your unconscious mind is running the show and you are free to think about other things.
Think about your life. How many everyday actions are on automatic pilot?
How living on automatic pilot can cause problems
As you saw, automatic pilot can be a big benefit. You can drive your car, talk to your friends, and change the radio station, all at the same time. But sometimes we put too many things on automatic pilot.
According to Joe Dispenza who wrote Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself (2012), by age 35, we have “memorized a select set of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, emotional reactions, habits, skills, associative memories, conditioned responses, and perceptions that are now subconsciously programmed within us. These programs are running us.”
Here’s the problem. In the past (maybe even early childhood), when you put part of your life on automatic pilot you stopped being open to new options. You are now stuck repeating the same old behaviors and creating the same old problems. You are trapped and can never become the person you were meant to be.
There is hope!
By releasing the past, you become open to a variety of options in your future. These options include better health and more happiness. You can be open to finally becoming your true self.
Let’s take a health example. Two people get a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. (These are people I know.)
Jenny is living on automatic pilot. She has a family history of diabetes. Almost everyone in her family has diabetes, so she doesn’t believe she can make a difference in her health. She does not take any steps to make life style changes or seek out the latest research.
Taylor is working to improve her life and she is open to more options in her future. She hopped on the internet and discovered researchers who were using life style changes to “cure” diabetes. She changed her eating habits and started exercising. So far, she has lost weight, has more energy, more mental clarity, and the numbers on all of her medical tests are moving into the healthy range. Has she cured her diabetes? I hope to know the answer soon.
Dispenza tells us “you are who you are because of what you believe about yourself.”
What do you believe about yourself? Are your beliefs stuck in the past? Are you on automatic pilot?
More information on letting go of the past can be found at “Are you new to the site?”
What would you do if you weren’t stuck?
(Image: Jen Gallardo @ Flickr)
