{"id":1274,"date":"2016-07-30T01:16:06","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T01:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/?p=1274"},"modified":"2016-07-30T01:16:06","modified_gmt":"2016-07-30T01:16:06","slug":"take-a-mindful-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2016\/07\/30\/take-a-mindful-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Take a Mindful Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

I learned to drive on a stick shift. At first, the task seemed daunting, coordinating my two feet with three pedals: clutch, brake, and gas. Yet in time, driving became second nature. When we do something long enough, our brains grow new neural pathways and a task becomes automatic, embedded within our procedural memory.<\/p>\n

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Now I drive an automatic and the car does the shifting for me. If I wanted, I could even use cruise control, letting the car maintain a consistent speed on the highway. But I prefer to keep my foot on the gas. Last week I saw one of Google\u2019s \u201cself-driving cars,\u201d controlled by a computer program. In the future, the driver could become a passenger, ferried around by an automatic program. But self-driving cars are far from perfect. One was recently involved in a major accident.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I wonder if my body has become like a self-driving car, mindlessly driven around without my awareness. Too often I move through my days programmed by habit or other peoples\u2019 expectations, out of touch with my own feelings and needs.<\/p>\n

If you do this too, the next time you catch yourself moving from mindless habit instead of choice, stop for a mindful moment:<\/p>\n