We wake up, sleepwalk through our day and then brush our teeth and go to bed. We then repeat this process over and over and like a top, the hands on the clock begin to spin faster and faster. It’s like talking on the phone while you drive. When you hang up, you look around and realize you’ve gone 20 miles without knowing it. Huge chunks of our lives just pass without being cognizant of it. It usually takes something life-shaking to wake us from our stupor. And when we do, it hurts. Awareness is like ripping a bandage off too fast.
Today is December 1. Yes, eleven months have already passed in 2014. And if you’re like me, you’re slightly stunned by that. It seems like yesterday was New Year’s Day. Christmas is just three weeks away. 2015 is roaring up on its heels. Time is traveling faster than Santa’s sleigh. Yet we continue to sleepwalk.
Today I’m having writer David McRaney on my radio show. David is a Southern Miss grad and a author of the book “You’re Not So Smart.” His book (and blog which is the source of the material from the book) has changed my mindset on how I see my life. The bottom line is this: It takes a lot of energy to run our brains. We’re bombarded with waaaaay more stimuli than our brains can handle. So our brains create stories for us filter that stimuli. And that story usually seeks to protect our fragile self-esteem through the Dunning–Kruger effect (basically thinking we’re better than we really are.) It creates how we see our worlds and taints it at the same time. That’s why one person can be convinced he or she is right while another person has the same set of facts and sees it another. It’s also how marketers can manipulate our decisions. David’s book has made me realize I’m like a water bug skirting across life’s surface. It makes me want to question more of what I am seeing. It makes me want to live deeper and quit sleepwalking.
Today is December 1. We have 31 more days left in this year. As I deal with some personal challenges, I am going to take this holiday season to reevaluate my life and what I believe. I am going to wake up and start living in the moment.
Christmas is the season of giving. If I can give my family more of myself, that would be the greatest gift I could possibly give them this year.