Why We Love and Hate Routine

In a Face Book conversation recently with an old friend I commented that I had never been good with routine.

Now I live by routine. What I didn’t like in the past was the predictability, the thought that I would be doing the same exact thing for the rest of my life. It would make my skin crawl and create the desire to bolt and run as fast as I could.

Now I love the predictability of routine because I associate it with improvement. I have been writing almost every morning for a year and a half. I have struggled and triumphed. It has become easier in many ways. It has become part of me. Many of my friends who could not write could not get into the routine because there was too much thought in the way.

I love to surf. In the mornings, I see surfers join at the top of the stairs over looking the beach and decide whether it’s a good day. Wanting to improve, I often joined in their judgments. That means I wouldn’t surf on many days. Now I have learned to just go in. The surf is always a surprise and more than it appeared.

I know exercise is important in my life and want to continuously get stronger. The process of exercise makes me feel better and continues to turn fat to lean. I know in the process I am making every part of my body healthier. I do my morning stretches and then later a warm up, then surf, and now in the afternoons a run.

I don’t really think about whether I want to do it or whether it is a good day for it. It’s just part of my commitment to becoming better and healthier. In the background I am continuously improving my eating. I have the challenge of feeling strong enough every day to complete my routine. I need fuel and recovery. I eat the best foods for each and take the most important supplements.

Having passions is great fuel for enjoying life. Learning for me is a passion. I read continuously and sometimes fear I will go through my local library and have no books I like. But I find my routine of going each week to change out my books allows me to find new ones that I would not have thought I liked.

If the routine means improvement we will continue to experience change.