I was in Los Angeles last weekend and went to the beach on Saturday. I grew up in L.A. and have driven to the beach more times than I can count. Well, last Saturday morning I wasn’t paying attention to where I was and didn’t realize I was in the wrong lane on the freeway. Big mistake. I ended up in a less-than-desirable part of Los Angeles.

How often have we all driven somewhere, and once we arrive, we don’t even remember the actual streets we were on? Usually it happens when we drive a route we’ve driven dozens of times. It’s like we’re driving on auto-pilot.

Even if it is a route we’ve driven countless times, when we do that, is it possible that we missed something on this particular drive? A new store? A flower? A friend who saw us driving by and waved to us?

Living On Auto-Pilot

How many of us are living our entire lives on auto-pilot? One day blends into the next, and the one after that, and so on. I know that I’ve been guilty of it in the past.

Let’s face it: life is busy. It’s hectic and scattered. Sometimes it’s a roller coaster that we have no control over. And if we face a break up or divorce or other major loss, it can be devastating. When that happens, it’s even more likely that we’ll slip into living on auto-pilot.

We get caught up in the drama of what’s going on or what happened. We think back to the good times. We wonder where it went wrong. We wonder what we could have done differently.

The Past

We’re caught in the past. So we simply go through the motions of life that’s happening right now. Whether it’s getting dressed in the morning, doing your job at work, or cleaning house, you physically do these things, but your mind is far, far away.

But here’s the thing. It doesn’t just happen after going through a difficult time – it happens all the time! You might wish you were somewhere else, doing something else, spending time with someone you miss. You might be looking forward to an upcoming vacation, or a date you have planned. Or you might just simply be getting through the workday until it’s time to go home.

And when you do that, what are you missing that’s happening at that moment? A smile from your child? Your dog wagging his tail because he’s happy that you’re home? A stranger doing something kind like holding a door open for you?

This Is It

How do we avoid this? Very simply, by living in the present moment. That’s right… this one, this moment, right now. Because this is it. This is the only moment in time that we are guaranteed. As much as we don’t like to think about it, the fact is that we are all going to die someday. What we don’t know is when that day is, but it’s the one guarantee we have in this life.

I don’t want to get to the end of my life wondering where all of the moments went. Sure, I still get lost in my thoughts from time to time. And when I do, I try to bring myself back to the present moment. Whether I’m with someone or by myself, there’s something going on in each and every moment that I don’t want to miss.

The Gift

Deepak Chopra said: “The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.”

What have you missed out on by not being present? How do you avoid living on auto-pilot?