The Value of Breaking My Routine

The Value of Breaking My Routine

We all have them. Morning routines, that is. Open the blinds, drink some water. Make the tea/coffee.

However your day typically starts, that routine is what we do over and over and over.

I wonder sometimes how it would feel to eat breakfast, not make the bed, and then shower? In that order.

I worked with a young lady years ago, who asked me if I made my bed each day. (An odd question if I say so myself.) But perhaps, she had already seen signs of my at-work behaviour and she was confirming her suspicions!

And I dare say, that when she asked me, I also knew that her answer was No! she didn't make hers.

Or someone else who said that her husband and had not made the bed once in their married life. Not ONCE, I asked. She said that she had done that task from day one, and he had 'agreed' that it should be hers.

That easily. We let things just happen.

Now it doesn't truly matter who makes the bed each day. But do we allow other decisions to just happen also?

If someone were to ask me what about my morning routine, it would be horribly boring to many. Tea up, eat up, tidy up the bed, shower up. Plan the day. Clear the clutter in my mind, the bits on my desk, review the list to complete, the mundane administrative tasks to keep a business running, reading and researching for the next... and then and only then do the creative. That's just how I need to do it and I know that it could different but... I don't. Usually.

My daytimer has notes scribbled for the entire week, people to see, bananas to pick up, things to drop off. If I am fortunate like today, a friend suggests a coffee because she's at my end of town. Or another says she'd love to buy a pair of earrings similar to what I've made and posted on pinterest.

Then a wind howls through my space and I hear the permission to hurl myself into the unexpected, abandon my list and immerse myself into those fleeting moments. It's something I'm only now just learning to do!

I just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's City of Girls: A Novel. A delightful and still gut-wrenching chronicle of the people whom we all know and recognize. The wicked humour, the lavender-scented memories, the scandalous and the brave inhabit these pages. Each character with a routine, a habit, a belief, a way of seeing the world which could be the same or cosmically opposite from us. We learn which ones we are like, who we would want as a friend, which one would hurt us.

The Value of Breaking My Routine

The most wonderful thought in this book however, is how it speaks to the passing of time. How the years take those most precious to us, because of someone's actions or death. It reminds us that the spaces they leave behind are not easy to fill. We learn that there are many people in this world, but not all are worthy of being included in our lives. (Tweet This)

So how does my long, tangled story come back to routines, you ask? How does whether you make your bed or put plants in a straight row on your window sill make a difference? How dropping your plans to visit with a friend has meaning. Why some people make it easier to be kind and generous? Why do some people always give us comfort?

Routines, make them, break them, do as you will.

But when that unexpected moment arrives, you have to decide whether to stick to a routine or jump.

And the most important thing right then is to know what to ignore and what is worth our attention. (Tweet This)


 Be well,

My recommendation: 5 Stars

One More Time Can Make a Habit

                                   

One More Time Can Make a Habit

Consider these two gents who meet at least as often as I am on that path and talk in their native language. They move to a silent symphony, with arms up and down, sideways and in circles.

Then they sit on the same bench each time. They tap their laps and then their heads and continue their song.

How long have they been doing this, I think to myself. Do they also meet on the days when I don't walk? What is their habit?

I see a lady walking with a different dog quite frequently. One day my curiousity can't be contained and she tells me that she fosters dogs who are waiting for a permanent home due to some circumstance. The particular brown lab puppy that is dancing at her heels is the subject of a divorce. Neither party can accommodate this sweetie right now. So this walking lady will keep her as she has many "orphans" over the years. It is who she is, it is her habit. (Tweet This)

My husband and I went to the Calgary Stampede (The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth) yesterday. We saw first-timers, tourists, and those who knew which building to go to for the experience they wanted. We saw the young moms pushing strollers and the elderly with their walkers. 

Were the youngsters forming a habit? I hope so. Because as time goes on, they will have so many stories to tell! When I looked at the elders, I had to think, how many years have they been coming? What memories did they have of attending over the years? Perhaps they reminisced of going with their own young children or holding hands with their sweetheart one special year.

Each day whether we are walking or sitting, laughing or bored, our habits are formed. Before we know it, we become them. (Tweet This)

Each day I see those who struggle to be mobile or to keep their minds clear. They do it not because it is easy for them but because somewhere along the line they decided that this is who they are. This is the habit they are going to keep.

One More Time Can Make a Habit

                                     

If you have a goal of strength or survival, of friendship, of giving support, of not complaining, of not over-eating, of staying clean, of taking care of yourself, please do it today.

It's a good thing to do. One more time can make a habit. (Tweet This)