Disrupt the Drift

We all have default reactions—the way we respond to people, the way we hold ourselves in a room, the way we deal with challenges. If our life is a chain of those default reactions, then we also have a default future—what will come to pass if we keep living in default mode, drifting.

If you keep living your life exactly as you are living it now, where will you be in 10 years? Who will you be?

You may like the answer. You may be drifting in the right direction. But if you don’t, it’s ok. Just remember that you always have the power to get where you want to go, to be who you want to be—if you’re willing to disrupt the drift.

Airplanes are actually off-course 90 percent of the time. But almost all of them arrive at the right destination. This is thanks to ongoing course correction. Every time the plane veers away from its flight coordinates, it simply makes a small corrective movement to get back on the right path.

Without course correction, the worst can happen. In 1979, a plane carrying 257 people took off from New Zealand on its way to Antarctica. But the plane’s flight coordinates were off by two degrees. As it approached Antarctica, the coordinates put it in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano. The snow on the volcano blended with the clouds, and the pilots couldn’t see it. A warning sounded, but it was too late—the plane crashed.

Living your life in default mode can be like that. If you always ignore that call from your parents, it won’t take long before you drift apart. In your default future, your parents may no longer be here, and you may be filled with regret for the relationship you never had. If you reach for a packet of crisps every time you’re feeling hungry, it won’t take long before your body changes. In your default future, you may not be able to enjoy the freedom of movement, or the health, you’d imagined.

Disrupting the drift means engaging in your own form of course-correction. Fortunately, as with airplanes, your corrections don’t need to be drastic. They can be small, daily actions—like picking up the phone, or reaching for an apple. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever screen calls, or ever have crisps. It just means understanding that if that’s all you do, you may not end up at the destination you’re seeking.

You can explore this on your yoga mat too. Notice if you always avoid a certain pose, or always favor one side. You might even have suffered from an injury years ago but still practice as if you’re protecting yourself. If you keep practicing in this default mode, you might reach a plateau. You’ll certainly never discover what you’re really capable of. But just by taking a moment to pause and see how you’re drifting, you can choose to disrupt the drift.

For at the end of the day, it’s up to you: “We either live with intention or exist by default.”

Ellie Norton is a 2018 Lumi 200-hour Teacher Training graduate and a passionate yogi and writer.  You can read more of her reflections on her blog, What I Learned This Week.