Day 86: Are You Running On Auto-Pilot?

As a business professional in a new city, I joined a networking group to get to know people. So if I haven’t already told you, I belong to a BNI Chapter in Yaletown – BNI Marinaside, “the best chapter in the lower mainland”. BNI stands for Business Networking International and is a group of highly qualified and professional business owners who are the cream of the crop. At least in my opinion they are. They are the type of people that go above and beyond the call of duty, the type of people you hope to find to do business with, and even better than that…it is a community of fun people that actually care about each other and consequently end up feeling more like family. And when I say family, I mean the kind that you like. HA! Personally, I love it.

So I go every Tuesday morning at the crack of dawn to meet with like minds. And as much as I hate to admit it, it is also the best time of day too actually. I have been going for quite a few months now, and even though I get up at an ungodly hour when most people are in dreamland, it has now become a habit I look forward to.

Today was different though. Lately I have been so busy that life has been flying by me. I guess you could say I have been running on auto-pilot, as I don’t really remember much. Not exactly a good thing. Today, however, I learned just how much I have been on auto-pilot and not paying attention because I went the wrong way. In my haste this morning I took the “scenic route”, a detour...or if I were being honest, I wasn’t paying attention and simply went the wrong way. When I realized what I was doing, it made me wonder…how much of my life am I on auto-pilot? How much of my life am I so distracted by thoughts and other things that I am not even paying attention to the present moment? The answer is far too much. Thank God I was only walking.

There were days though, when I used to drive, that I would travel quite often from my hometown in Manitoba to the nearest city an hour away…and most of those times I couldn’t even remember the drive. I only remember leaving and arriving, and all the middle was a blur. I was in the “zone”. Which gets me to thinking…is this how I really want to live life? As a blur? Not really. I don’t even know when things changed or when I got so caught up in it. It seems I am always “going” and never staying or slowing down to enjoy; very rarely anyway. Even when I look back at my life thus far, I have been on the go for the past 10 years, travelling mostly. These past three years since moving to Vancouver have been the longest I have stayed in one place since I graduated 13 years ago.

Holy cow. Has it already been that long!? Yeesh.

So here’s a question for you, how do you get out of the “blur”? How do you not get caught up in it, yet still get what you need done, done? I would sure love to know.

Too bad cloning weren’t an option eh? I could use a few extra me’s.

Oh, and by the way, if you are interested in checking out my BNI Chapter to find a professional for WHATEVER you need, let me know and I will invite you as my guest. Not only would I love to meet my blog supporters, but I hope that I can help you find some inside connections too. Helping each other is what it’s all about anyway right?  ;o)