The Real-Life Zombie Apocalypse: Living on Autopilot

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with zombie movies. There’s something haunting about watching a world overrun by people who look alive but aren’t really living. They move in groups, chasing the same thing, driven by an invisible force they cannot control.

But what has stood out to me is how the humans who survive do so by thinking differently.

The former headteacher learns first aid.

The engineer learns to cook with scraps.

The children learn to stay cautious in a world that was once their playground.

They adapt. They evolve. They wake up.

In real life, that is exactly what most of us forget to do. In these movies, the survivors are the ones who refuse to go numb. They fight. To stay human. 

When we switch off the screen, we rarely realise we are living out our own version of the same story. Not chased by brain eating monsters, but by routine.

Most people walk through life on autopilot. Same job. Same routine. No real spark.

As children, we dreamt of endless possibilities. We were told we were gifted, destined to go somewhere. But somewhere along the way, comfort disguised itself as contentment, and we stopped noticing the drift. Brianna Wiest once wrote that being even one degree off course on a flight can take you to a completely different destination. The same goes for our lives; small moments of complacency can quietly reroute us from who we set out to become.

We crave certainty. Daniel Kahneman’s research proved we will even pay a higher price just to have it. But what happens when that price is not money, but our freedom, our curiosity, and our sense of purpose?

In zombie movies, it is a virus that spreads and takes over. In our world, the virus is not flesh-eating. It is comfort, routine, and fear disguised as stability.

The good news? Unlike the zombies on screen, there is a cure.

It is called conscious living.

This is choosing to be intentional about how you move through your life.It is asking yourself, “Is this still making me happy?”It is checking in with your health, your habits, and your dreams before life quietly decides for you.

In earnest, the hardest part for any of us has never been realizing you need to be “intentional”. Every book teaches us that.

It’s what you do on a random Tuesday morning when the realization fades and routine beckons you back.

That’s when most people slip into zombie life again.Not because they want to.

I don't have all the answers. I’m just learning to wake up again.

Here's what I do know: every single day you have the option to stay asleep or to make one choice differently. Every single day, the zombie apocalypse is real, and you get to decide which side you're on.

The survivors aren't special. They're just the ones who chose, again and again, to stay awake.

What are you going to choose on Tuesday?