Exhausted, spent, too tired to even think, some people live their lives robotically running a treadmill existence as if dead inside. They've become numb to the endless repetition of energy sucking experiences. In and out of ill fated relationships and jobs, these people always Find Excuses And Reasons (FEAR) why this or that didn't work out again.
I was one of those people.
Others participate in the kabuki dance of a revolving door-like structure in their personal relationships. Flippin' around like a rattlesnake on PCP, they move from place to place never satisfied with where they are at in any moment.
"If I leave where I'm at or who I'm with now - THEN I will be happy!" Well, perhaps after this one more move and then another. Life passes by with a preset pattern of behavior that just doesn't work.
I was one of those people too.
I wore my Zombie mask for several years. Ok, decades. I felt emotionally empty inside merely limping along instead of being a vibrant living person. Living a life on auto-pilot, I was if I was unconscious. I had no idea what would give my life meaning, purpose and fulfillment. To make life bearable in this state you have to detach - disconnect with your human spirit. Life is bearable when you're completely numbed but things never really work out the way you want them to. You resign yourself to the mundane, accepting that you'll never have what you want - if you remember what you want in the first place.
You're left feeling stuck or frustrated. Shopping, snacks, inappropriate sexual dalliances, cosmetic surgery, snacks and endless spa vacations become the numbing drugs of choice. Life may even look great from the outside. From the inside, not so much.
People who are dead inside harbor a bitterness about how a meaningful life has eluded them. They simply do not understand that the power to change circumstances is within.
Zombies walk among you. They are everywhere. Some of your friends, family and co-workers are Zombies. You can run into Zombies at the grocery store aisle. You will find them spa, gym, yet another empowerment seminar, or workshop and the annual Barney's Warehouse Sale, eyes glazed in a tranced state.
Whether you're a Zombie or not, if you are among them your life energy will evaporate.
To break free of a Zombie haze you have to take full responsibility for all of your life experiences - the good stuff and the not so great. In taking ownership of your life, you do not beat yourself up with blame, guilt, or any other judgment for creating what you'd rather forget. Instead, examine each outcome to reveal what, specifically, manifested the outcome.
Here's how you, as a vibrant person can intentionally shape your life experiences:
In every moment either something happens that you react to or you plant the seeds for an upcoming event. You start with a thought that leads to an emotion that births a choice that calls for an action that creates the outcome.
To break free of your dead existence, wake up! Be willing to clearly see. Examine and trace the occasions of your life back to the original thoughts that sparked the ensuing events. As if the experience was an onion, strip away each layer until you discover how you unknowingly set yourself up for the results you got.
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. - Albert Einstein
To do the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome is the very definition of insanity! To transform the experiences you do not want you have to transform the way you think. Mindfully reach for new perspectives.
To perpetually create the experiences you enjoyed continue to hold the thoughts and perspectives that gave birth to those wonderful happenings.
To the extent that you feel tired, unfulfilled, anxious, stressed or frustrated is where you show up in your life dead to your ability to powerfully create. You were not born to be a Zombie.
Without judgment dissect your unwanted circumstances. What thinking got you into that mess? Vigorously question the truth of those thoughts. Seek evidence of the contrary. Frame a new perspective.
With this new outlook, identify what would have been a better choice. Apply that new perspective to your life as you move forward. That's you become the master of your opportunities instead of the Zombie-like victim of your circumstance.
Wake up your dead parts. Dance to the rhythm of an intentional life.