Routines

My cat loves recovery days. She knows when recovery days are - probably because of the change in the rhythm of the morning. I lay in bed an extra few minutes, leisurely go downstairs to get my espresso, and then I sit in the library to drink it. She waits for me by the entry to the library. She waits until I get settled and then she hops up on the chair next to me, walks across the table (tiptoeing around my steaming espresso), and picks a spot on my lap. Things would be easier for her if she would jump directly into my chair, but she does not care about efficiency. Cats always do things on their terms. This is her routine and she likes it.

I like this pause in my physical routine. I also like the fact that it is on Mondays. It gives me a chance to think about the coming week, to plan, to organize. It gives me a chance to reflect on the past week, what worked, what didn't. For Shirley, it gives her a warm place to snuggle into and purr contentedly. Of course, most of her routines seem to revolve around finding warm places to snuggle.

As a working parent and triathlete, my life at times seems to revolve around collections of routines. Work routines, workout routines, weekly kid chauffeuring, hockey practices, etc. Don't get me wrong - there is definitely some spontaneity and flexibility here and there - even the best laid plans need "on the fly" tuning. There is also however a fair amount of "unscheduled time" within my week. Time to play hockey with my son in the basement, or color with my daughter.

The trick to balancing it all is to not let routines run my life, instead I use my routines simply to organize my life. We all fall into patterns of behavior and routines - it's inevitable. The trick is to make sure that we don't become slaves to them, letting them define us. Instead we must be the definers of our routines and behaviors to better ourselves as well as those around us. This is the purpose of my recovery day routine - to step outside a little from my regular routines and take the time to make sure that they are keeping me on a positive path on all fronts.