Living Unconsciously

Unaware of effects on the world

This is a new sort of realization for me – that some people move through life, but don’t have a clue that they affect everything around them.

How are we supposed to live with them?

I’m not sure I have an answer, but take a walk with me and have a look around…

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In action

People living this way have a remarkable attitude about things…

They follow three feet behind the car in front of them, and wonder why that person is driving nervously.

They insult the waiter, and then comment on his sullen attitude.

They cut in line to join friends and then wonder why others are angry.

They create ripples in the world, and wonder where all the waves in life come from.

Funniest turnabout

And as a study in life, I do find it funny when someone who is unconscious of some parts of their life runs into someone else that is even more unconscious about their life;-)

For example, take the person that after cutting off traffic because they needed to change lanes because they didn’t pay attention to where they were and needed to be, comments “Can you believe that driver, they almost caused an accident because they were on their cell phone!”

It’s times like these that I hope for the other person’s benefit that they take the moment to consider their own situation, the actions they’ve taken, and realize that they are changing the world around them.

Live Today

In one of my favorite articles, I wrote about maintaining the right focus for life – that article was perhaps titled poorly, but I enjoyed the joke behind “People of the World Untie“. The first interpretation is a play on the classic suggestion to unite, but in reality, I was asking people to let go – of the future and the past.

And perhaps I captured some of the concepts of living unconsciously in the image of “Living Large”.

Differences

But in this case, I’m not saying that people necessarily want to be ‘big’ and in other people’s faces. In fact I’d say that most would deny that if asked.

They just don’t have a clue that they are having an effect on the system – that their actions impact others around them.

No point in arguing

And while my hopes are hardly ever realized, there isn’t much I can think of to do about it.

Perhaps like sleepwalking, there is no good solution.

Waking them up has one set of hazards, leaving them asleep has another. In most cases, the sleepwalker is unlikely to remember – even bringing it up the next day is likely to spawn denials or even an argument.

To stop living unconsciously, one needs to quiet down and listen, and a fight is hardly ever quiet.

Are you moving through life aware of things, or are you living unconsciously?