Autopilot and automatic thoughts
In everyday life, we often live without sensing, i.e., really seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching what is happening around us. We run on automatic pilot, where the body does one thing while the mind is occupied with something completely different.
Maybe you have tried to sit down with a really delicious cup of coffee that you have been looking forward to enjoying (it could also be a piece of chocolate or a bag of sweets 😉 ) but suddenly you realize that the cup is empty without actually having tasted the coffee and really enjoyed it. Or maybe you are driving home from work on the same road as usual, and when you pull into the driveway, you think, "How did I end up here?" Or maybe you remember that you had actually planned to stop by a friend's house on your way home.
Autopilot, or "driving on routine" can be very convenient in some areas of the external world, as it can be effective in helping us to take action, solve problems, and achieve certain goals. But other times, it can be problematic. This is especially true in relation to our inner world, where negative thoughts and negative emotions can get stuck on autopilot because we think the way we usually do without even noticing. This can lead to a downward spiral of low mood and depression.
If we then start to assess and judge how we are feeling, and we realize that things are not going as well as planned in terms of happiness or that we are not feeling the way we want, it becomes even more problematic. This often happens automatically and can reinforce the same negative thought patterns, worries, ruminations, and speculations.
