Routines or Ruts (Part 2)

In my last post I asked myself whether my daily morning routine was, in fact, a rut in which I was deeply embedded.  I also said I would come up with some alternatives to my rather robotic AM procedure.

 So, here's my first one:
 Continue with the first few steps, which are necessary (like feeding my cat).Make my mug of tea,
 but take it with me as I hop into the car and take a little trip.

 My first morning trip will be to Long Beach Island, a little over an hour's drive.
The drive should be fairly free of traffic, the route will wind through the pinelands of southern New Jersey, where the commercial buildings (like McDonalds, 7-Eleven Stores, and Walmarts) will be left behind. It won't be long before I'll be crossing the bridge over the bay.

Beautiful Photography by Alexander Gurtchedd

 I will open the windows a bit (it will still be pretty chilly if I do this soon) so that I can breathe in the salty air, and hear more clearly the call of the seagulls as they hover and swoop for their breakfast in the the briny waves.  Maybe I'll see a few small sailing craft braving the early morning temperatures. In minutes I will be on the island.

 I could drive the length of it, seeing what businesses are open or boarded up, still showing the ravages of the terrible Sandy Storm. (Was that 2 years ago already?). There are a lot of year round residents on the islands, but it's typically pretty quiet in the late winter/early spring, especially if
I go on a weekday.

But what I really want to do is park near the ocean, walk along the beach and watch the waves roll in, take a few pictures.

Think....pray....dream.... maybe have a little lunch somewhere before I head back home.....AND CREATE SOMETHING AWESOME!!

Well, now that I've written about it, I can't wait to do it. Thursday is the first day of spring....hmmm...this could be my way to celebrate it. I'm excited!

ROUTINES OR RUTS

Get out of bed. Swallow prescribed pills. Raise window shades. Feed cat. Put on tea kettle.

Fix large mug of tea. Put on television for morning news and weather. Sip tea. Read daily devotional.

Sip tea. Check e-mails. Sip tea. Check Facebook. Sip tea..........EVERY SINGLE DAY.

“Comforting, Predictable, grounds me” I say.

“…..or grinds me into the ground????” I ask myself.

“I NEED this routine!”

“I need to STOP this routine!”

The argument continues.....

“I need to SAVOR this routine!”

“I need to UPSET this routine!”

So which is it? There is something about our daily routines that assure us in some way, that our lives are okay, that all is well, that there are things that we can always rely upon to be constant, when the other parts of our lives are not.

But do our routines sometimes keep us away from something that is.....refreshing..

                          ... inspiring.

                                          ..exciting..

                                                       ....eye-opening...

 necessary to our personal growth and perspective on life?

How about you? Do you need to shake things up a bit in your daily habits? What things? Why?

Are some routines “sacred”? If so, why?

I would love to have your thoughts.

For me, I'm going to try some alternatives to the ho-hum start that is currently my routine.

In the next post I'll let you know my ideas for “shaking it up” that I'm going to try.