Routine: Your Biggest Frenemy
Frenemy - "a person who combines the characteristics of a friend and an enemy."
I often find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place: I crave routine when not in one, and a break from it when I’m settled into one.
The grass always seems to be greener on the other side.
The trick, as with anything in life, is to know where a routine is helpful and where it is not. I.e., when it acts as your friend, and when it acts as an enemy.
Here’s my best stab at it: first through the opposing lens of some pretty wise folk, and then in my own where I try and put it all together.
"Once your brain establishes a routine…the ‘alertness’ goes away, the fascination with the way the world works.” - Jedidiah Jenkins
"The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine" - Mike Murdock
I consider myself to be a fairly average representative of the North American population, so I think it’s reasonable to assume that I’m not alone in the love-hate relationship I have with routine.
The only antidote I can offer is to embrace routine for it’s benefits and pitfalls.
Routine is great when you have a goal and a system/plan in place to achieve it. Time flies by, and you’ll find that you’ve reached the finish line before you know it.
But routine is terrible when you want to savor your experiences. Getting out of your routine marks a special moment in time that’s very different to your everyday life, and becomes an anchor point for your memories and existence.
I say that we make our existence count. After all, aren’t we all here just trying to do the best we can for ourselves and the ones we care about?
Here’s another deeper take on our perception of time. It touches on how we perceive time differently in the moment and when we remember it. I highly recommend watching the whole thing.
