Daylight Savings Time (DST) hit last week stretching our days a bit more to make room for more sun and productivity. I, however, haven’t made the necessary changes to fit within this new time frame. My body and mind don’t recognize what time to should go to bed; frankly, neither do the kids! I am living as if DST doesn’t exist and am continuing in the patterns of the old time zone. I call this my default mode. The clocks in our apartment and car are in this mode as well. Things have stayed the same because I haven’t made the necessary alterations to align my life with this new time change.
We can do the same thing with how we live day-to-day living out of our default mode.We get up make coffee, get dressed, go to a job we don’t like but tolerate because we don’t have the energy to think about doing something else. When we make it home, we feel rushed to make or grab dinner while we reflect on the many tasks we expected to have completed but didn’t. We hop in bed scrolling on our phones mindlessly because that’s what we did the day before. As we close our eyes, we hope that we are able to rest, though our anxious thoughts remind us of our lack of progress from the day. This is our default.
How many of our daily actions aligns with who we truly are? Maybe we don’t think about it often because we have lost sight of our values and priorities. It seems like our main motivation is just to make it through the day, only to turn around and do the same thing tomorrow. You are alive, dear friend, and have reason for living. (P.S. It’s more than just getting by and coasting.) How normal it is to follow a routine because it is ingrained in your brain’s pathways. It seems easier because it’s automatic. But what if I told you that choosing a defaulted life actually requires more energy. Not only that, it may also be draining you from living the life you actually want to live?
To bring personal awareness to how you live your life, consider the following questions:
- What are my priorities and values in my life? (These are the reasons why we live: our purpose and motivation)
- How am I and how am I not living out of these priorities and values?
- Observe your daily actions for a week. What is your default and what are you intentionally choosing?
- How do I want to make changes to live more out of my priorities and values instead of defaulting to the norm?
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