subject: Automatic Behavour [print this page] Have you ever found yourself driving along, apparently quite normally, then suddenly realise you've been in brain freeze, not going where you wanted. That you were merrily driving to work before realising your on holiday and intended to go somewhere quite different instead? I've done that numerous times.
Have I a memory problem, well, I don't think so. This is more a case of lack of focus, habit having taken over, and when it happens it's a case of "You stupid idiot Rod" then snapping out of it and working out how to get back on my right route.
You might be surprised to realise just how many times a day these things happen, how many times we find ourselves not thinking about what we are doing. Day dreaming is the common name, and when it happens what is actually happening is that we are acting on automatic.
Automatic behaviours can be very strong in our life and the older we get the stronger those behaviours become. Although automatic behaviour can serve a useful purpose, if we wish to be in charge of our life we need to watch ourselves very carefully.
In Sc-fi robots are very popular, a household asset to do all the work we don't want to, doubt we could afford one though. Robotic behaviour is useful for certain chores but if we really want to find and increase our personal power then we need to remember that if taken too far, automatic behavours can become a threat to our personal power.
Another type of creature that we often see in horror movies is the zombie. Zombies are the living dead. A person who can move, do things and on the surface it seems to be alive but in fact isn't. It is no accident that the zombies appear in horror movies.
It is one of our biggest nightmares, to sit and think about being alive but having no conscious thought. Yet a painful truth is that we could all find ourselves partially zombified, or turning into a robot. Just turn your mind to someone who spends their days sat in front of the television; what kind of a person have you become if all you do is become mesmerized by the screen, watching endlessly no matter what the programme is?
Life is a spark, and lightning flash, a roll of thunder, a beautiful sunset or a piece of haunting music. You cannot be alive without awareness and consciousness. Personal awareness is our own responsibility, no one can be aware for us we can only do it ourselves and one thing is absolutely certain we cannot have personal power without personal awareness. So, if our lives are becoming filled with automatic behaviour then we are seriously risking the loss of our personal power.
Do you spend your life feeling bored all the time? Is you humdrum? Or do you find life an eternal learning experience, full of sparks and beauty? There is a truth in the fact we all enjoy routine, safety, we find reassurance in routine and the common banilities of life and can carry on like this year on year. And as we do this, looking for the safe and familiar, we can gradually morph into zombies without even knowing it. Boy what a risk! Who on earth would want to become a reanimated corpse out of choice?
It is better by far to start to take different types of risks, to be conscious and aware, to let the unexpected happen. If your life has turned into one long rut, everything planned and the same, week in, week out, then break out, make a change and allow a sense of uncertainty to return. Relish the uncommon, play with danger. It is far, far better to be alive and to be full of energy.
At the beginning of a pack of tarot cards is the Fool. He is leaping of the high hill into an empty space. This is the start of all the best and most exciting journeys - be the fool and take the leap.
