Take Back Your Life!

My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement.” ~ Patricia Graynamore, Joe Versus The Volcano

Too many people go through their entire lives sleepwalking, like they are on some kind of autopilot that they can’t wake up from.

I used to be on autopilot to the point that sometimes I’d get in my car and find myself going somewhere I wasn’t intending to go. Once I found myself on the Mass Pike without any change in my purse for the tolls. I had to scrounge around the console and glove box gathering up 4o cents to get off at the next toll exit.

Once I got off, I pulled over and subjected myself to a flurry of rather frank self-talk, “What is wrong with you? How did you end up on a major highway when you were going to the Natick mall?”

It was a literal wake-up call to my apparent sleepwalking. From that moment on, I spent my days slap, slap, slapping myself awake … to my big, beautiful life … to ridding myself of default living … to a commitment to create my own path.

Once I became aware of my previous unawareness, my life really started to get juicy. As Patricia says above, once you wake up you will live in a state of constant total amazement.

I’m never bored now that I’m awake. Too much to experience, to learn, to do, to discover, to absorb, to share.

I’m sure I might seem like a maniac to those still slumbering through their days, but to the other awakers, I fit in great, like I found my tribe.

Sometimes I think of it as the Invasion of the Body Snatchers in reverse. Instead of Donald Sutherland being terrified of being recognized by the pod people when they emit that god-awful siren scream, in my world Donald would be able to identify the awake folks and then go hang out with them. The sleepwalkers would be too zoned out to even notice he was not one of them.

One great thing that happened once I stopped roboting through my life was the discovery of my love of detective work, something I did naturally as a child yet encouraged to give up in teendom and early adulthood as the price to the “path” to success. I do all sorts of investigations – that I love. My Nancy Drew/Erin Brockovich/Columbo personality sees mysteries that need to be solved. It starts when my inner crap detector goes off. I say to myself, “Something isn’t right here” and the investigations begin.

It’s fun and my hunches are usually on the mark.

It’s hard to wake up someone who snoozes with their eyes open. You think they are awake, but they really are not. That person needs some kind of trigger to wake themselves up from the inside. That is where the on/off button switch can be found. An event will happen that forces you into an awakened state. You look around and say, “holy crap, this is pretty cool” I want stay here.

If you have woken yourself up, what was the trigger? And how do you feel now?

Muse thanks! G.

Ps, if you live in the area, I’ve got Wild Painting for Type A Personalities coming up on April 20, a wednesday from 7 to 9. More info HERE.