Is your life starting to feel like you’re always on automatic? If it is, don’t panic, being on automatic pilot isn’t always a bad thing. Doing things automatically and having routines allows us to get what we need to get accomplished more easily. It would be difficult if you had to stop and think about every little detail of what you had to do each day before your feet touched the floor in the morning. You would be exhausted (even more tired than you may already be). I just want to make sure you don’t fall into what I call “empty syndrome”. You know you have “empty syndrome” when you feel vacant from your life and almost everything you do is mechanical and routine. Or if your daily gratitudes become automatic and stale. Or if the things you used to enjoy have become mundane and now you think of them as just one more thing to put on you’re overloaded schedule. If you already have “empty syndrome”, I can help you get out! The good news is summer is a really wonderful time to break out of your usual routines or prevent having an overly full on-automatic-pilot life. During the summer there’s always a sense of freedom in the air. Your routine may change out of necessity as the kids are home from school. But why not use that as a chance to be creative with your time and theirs. Even without having to care for children, everyone seems a bit lighter during the summer, so take this opportunity to take back your life.
So how do you change your tried and true routines that almost run on their own? Pick something simple and do it a different way. Switch around the order of how you do things or choose an entirely new routine to accomplish the same outcome. If you always work out the same way, find something totally different to get the same good results. If you always watch TV during or after dinner, watch TV before. Maybe listen to music one night a week instead. Try squeezing your toothpaste from the opposite end of the tube. Drive a different route to the store or work. Buy some unusual foods or even a new brand. Visit a new ice cream parlor with the kids or just try an unusual flavor of ice cream! Yes, change can be strange for a little while but you are guaranteed to make wondrous discoveries with every alteration you make. The whole idea is to be more present in the moment, not on the automatic-no-thinking-mode, so you can get back into feeling your life! Happiness is right there for you. Sometimes you just have to get out of the familiar and grab it.
Choosing the feeling life,
Bonnie
Wonderful, thanks for reminding me 🙂 Would you believe it that I used to eat the same meal over and over again for several months? amazing! Just b/c s-ing works I got stuck in a rut without even noticing it. Change is a great thing, isn’t it? Enjoy!