Autopilot

Autopilot Existence - Wake up, get dressed, go to work/school.  Pick up the spouse/kids. Go to activities, events, workout... get home... cook dinner!!!  Cook!!!?? Who's got time to cook a hot meal!

​That is exactly why this post is later than I had planned on).  Take the autopilot existence and throw in a near last minute decision to make a very necessary trip to Dallas on less than a shoe string budget add a 13-hour drive (one way) and everything comes to a screeching halt!​ 

---

Thirteen hours gives you a lot of time to slow down, reflect on the past, think about and plan the future.  You quickly learn to appreciate things in life that we frequently take for granted. Things like sleep, hot food and a good stretch to name a few! (just wait until you are over 50 and sit in a car for 13 hours. A good stretch is close to ecstasy!) 

The purpose of my trip was to learn more about the decision made in my previous post "How Appropriate". With most other things in life on hold for the weekend the drive down and back gave me time to have some deep dive conversations with my buddy. (Shout out to Jill G.) We kept each other awake, discussed our individual and shared pasts. We speculated on what our individual and shared futures might look like.   We anticipated and affirmed, we contemplated and eliminated, we had conundrums and epiphanies, we found unexpected similarities and drastic differences, we looked around... and we looked within. 

The weekend long event provided some of the same elements as our conversations.  My belief that the right decision was made is solid.  Sometimes it takes total immersion in an environment to know if it is the right one for you.  We seldom give ourselves the chance to go deep, to really hash out the right path to take in life. This is mainly because we perceive that we are always so busy.  

There is a serenity in being sure, there is peace in knowing.  That feeling acts as a beacon to what is waiting for you if you keep your goal in mind and continue to move forward.  It is a buffer between you and all the madness that living on autopilot can bring.

It is so easy to forget why we do what we do.  If you allow it the day to day becomes the week to week, the month to month and the year to year.  You look up and you've been so busy, but you have nothing to show for all your hard work.  I urge you to slow down, even stop for a short while.  Explore you and the world around you.  It doesn't have to be a long weekend... it can be an reoccurring time slot 30 minutes a day, 1 day a week or month,  two weeks a year. Take whatever works for you.  That time frame belongs solely to you and anyone you choose to include.  Explore something other than busy work.  Find something that makes your heart sing.  Go out, disengage the autopilot, take the controls and find your beacon!
​