Do you find yourself in flight mode.. a little too easily?
Running from the moments in life when you feel threatened, offended, embarrassed, and otherwise overwhelmingly uncomfortable is not a system malfunction — it’s an automatic safety program.
Your nervous system orchestrates behavioral, emotional, and cognitive rules for your subconscious mind to automatically function within — based largely on your personal preferences and experiences of handling similar things in the past.
While these behaviors run constantly — you hold executive authority to override them.
During flight mode, your programs are simply responding to your current conscious upset in real-time.
Managing your hormones, awareness levels, and so much more — to ensure you have the biological power available to navigate things as they are happening.
The amount of conscious energy you have available at any one time determines how long and how intricately you can stay in manual override mode to do this.
If your energy is depleted during the process, auto-mode naturally resumes as programmed until your override energy is restored.
When a situation triggers you to respond by taking off — allowing auto-mode to run may not actually be the most flattering and mature way to go about things..
The quick escape is an instinctual response to a safety issue — Which is essentially built-in to make sure you can protect yourself.. by removing yourself from an unsafe situation if needed.
Most modern day flight mode threats are not typically a matter of life and death — and absolutely do not all require an ill-timed exit.
They require you to maintain the conscious energy to override them when appropriate — which simultaneously allows you the power to rewrite them into behaviors that fit with your current preferences.
When you catch yourself getting ready to disappear — or already in the middle of running, use the moment as a cue to exercise your authority.
Embrace the Fork in the Road
Anytime a conversation, event, thought, emotion, responsibility, or uncomfortable situation activates your need to escape — immediately pause.
Take a moment to reevaluate your automatic response.
If you are not in physical danger.. Is it your ego trying avoid disrespect, your mind future tripping on a potential negative outcome, or is this something that historically follows a pattern you are highly keen to, and want no part in?
Getting honest without yourself about the true issue at hand reveals your fork in the road.
Do you continue to flee because it is actually a healthy and safe response to the issue at hand — or do you regulate your emotions, clear your mind, strengthen your resolve, and stay (or return) to cross a capacity threshold?
There is a fine line between facing your problems and hiding from them.
Flight mode is not built-in to hijack your maturity and force you to avoid life — it’s much more appropriate to look at it as a real-time maturity booster.
- Being the bigger person
- Not stooping to others levels
- Not having to get the last word in
- Managing your temper
- Managing your emotions
- Facing rude people
and so many other unflattering aspects of life — require a lot of personal resolve.
Leaving when you don’t quite have the amount needed to skate through the situation without losing your cool — truly is the best thing to do sometimes.
Conscious maturity is being able to know which is which when the time comes.
Want to Dive Deeper?
Download the Bridge guide to learn more about human mechanics, auto-mode, and your executive override power.
⚠️ Please Note: This content is for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for therapy or medical advice.