2017 Resolution

Between Christmas and now, I totally surrendered to temptation.  The indulgence of holiday foods crossed over into gluttony.  I’ve eaten pie every day for a week.  I’ve lived off leftovers for a week.  I have lounged around the house and done nothing!  I am fat and stupid happy.  All things have their time, and the holidays are over.

I don’t need a scale to tell me I have over done it.  I have enjoyed a period of laziness, after the rush of cleaning and cooking for holiday guests, but now it is time to get back to real life.  Getting back to routine feels good.

For some family and friends, real life invaded the holidays with injuries, hospitalization and even death.  Getting back to find their real lives will take a period of recovery, grief, and adjustment.  For some, real life will be changed forever.

Comfort can be found in routine.  Routine doesn’t need to be thought about, decided each day.  Routine is a well-worn path that we can follow.  All that is required by routine is one small action at a time.  Eventually, we again notice details.  Something calls for attention.  A choice is made.  Time has carried us to a new day.

Some people are concerned that being in a routine will leave them in a rut rather than a groove.  A well crafted routine relieves stress and creates peace, while forging pathways into the future.

Exercising routinely will lead to greater fitness and health.  Reading every evening countless books can be read.  Seeking knowledge routinely  will lead to being knowledgeable.  Regularly writing a few words a day can lead to pages of text. Reaching out to others on a routine basis can strengthen relationships, forming strong relationships.  Instead of a rut, the future is made bright and interesting.

The key is to establish a good routine.  A good routine has built-in flexibility, time for dreaming, time for creating, and time for catching up when routine is inevitably interrupted by unexpected events, like a cat bite infection that lands someone in the emergency room.   Because we have unstructured time built into our routine, interruptions in our routine will not derail our goals and intentions.

With these thoughts in mind, my resolution for 2017 is to establish a good routine.

Cat bite.