Hi everyone, I’m back after a bit of a break. Sorry I’ve been gone for so long I got very busy all of a sudden. Anyways, today I want to talk about being a passenger in your own life. It’s something that has been on my mind for a while now and is very important to me. I hope you enjoy. :)
When I think about this topic it is very serious to me. Over the past few months something on my mind is the idea of being a passenger in your own life. I think this is especially applicable in my own life. The idea of being a passenger in your life to me means the following. There is this feeling of having little or no control over your actions and you just have to keep going on this ride that you may or may not want to be on in the first place.
I think this passenger mindset stems from certain decisions that we decide to make during our lives. Essentially, we sort of trap ourselves down a road where it seems impossible to get back from. And then we finally resort to being complacent in our lives but not actually having control over our own lives. We still have some control in the day to day choices we make but in the big picture we are lost and seem to be along for the metaphorical ride. I think it is easy to fall into this place of being a passenger. I think it comes from a series of decision that lead us down a certain path and we end up getting stuck in a way. It’s almost like it is harder to get out of this path than it is just to stay complacent for a while.
I think humans can go on for years in the perpetual cycle of being along for the ride on ones own life. But eventually, there becomes a point where you must hit rock bottom. There is a wake up call or point of realization where a person becomes so unsatisfied and unhappy in their daily lives where they convince themselves to make the switch and take back the steering wheel of their own lives. There becomes this “rock bottom” point where the idea of staying as a passenger in your own life with little legitimate control becomes too much to handle. At this point a pivotal change is made where one reflects on life. One can for the first time be truthful with oneself and acknowledge that a change must be made.
I think this feeling can be liberating. At this point one is truly able to turn inwards and examine what one truly values and bring these values to the forefront of life. It’s as if the smoke has cleared just enough to have a completely new outlook on life. It can be quite refreshing as one can finally examine what is important in their individual life and then set a new plan of action.
Even though the smoke has cleared, I acknowledge that not all of one’s problems simply seize to exists. I think there is still room for growth and improvement everyday.
I write this not in hypothetical but as a lived experience in my own life. I think this cyclical framework or being a passenger in your own life has had astounding impact on my life. I am not saying this to convince you I have life all figured out but rather, After going through this, it has made me really appreciate life more and learn to live life in more of a purposeful way. I want to take these new values and put them at the center of my life. Trying my best not to stray back to becoming a passenger once again.
One way I think is good to stay out of this passenger mindset is to do things in your life that give it meaning and fulfilment. This is a bit complex in practice.
Some actionable steps that I use is to be conscious of your day to day life activities. Once easy check is at the end of each day when your about to go to sleep laying in bed, reflect on some things that gave you energy and other things that seemed to drain you that day. I think a good rule of thumb is if the draining items outweigh the energizing items there could be a bit of a passenger in your own life problem. It can be hard to address it since it seems almost easier to just ignore it but as you stay a passenger in your own life, life becomes dull. Really give yourself a chance try to be honest with yourself about your true aspirations. I think it is so rewarding about escaping this passenger mentality and can finally give back that spark to life.
Thanks for reading this far. If you enjoyed my post don’t forget to leave a comment as I always love to interact and see what comes to mind of others.
My dear wife and I can identify so deeply. Well written and right on!