Routine

Is routine a good thing or a bad thing? It is probably both. We all have a routine of some kind or another. Some routines are in cycles. Monday to Friday in bed by ten and up at six. Ablutions and breakfast, maybe some exercise, and off to work or school. The weekends take on their own routine. Stay up late and wake up late. Maybe skip ablutions but never skip breakfast. Slow morning reading papers and watching television. Some people turn breakfast into brunch.
Sundays have their own routine. For many it's a time to shop, to go to the beach or once again just relax at home catching up with friends or family. For us it's off to Church after a walk and breakfast.


Routines change as family commitments change. Babies and small children thrive on routine. It makes them feel secure. When we were raising our children they knew they had to be home by five in the afternoon. The evening routine started then. It was dinner, bath, playtime, reading time and bedtime. There were hardly any tantrums because they knew this was what was expected.
 For some obscure and weird reason that I'm yet to fathom out, we are still at home by five o'clock and start the evening routine of feeding dogs, cooking dinner and watching television even though our boys left home twenty years ago.


Children are not the only ones who thrive on routine, dogs do too. Our guide dog puppies in training love the stimulation of new places and people. But they do their best work in familiar places and they always know when it is meal time. Keeping to a routine helps us to know when they need toilet breaks. So routine when puppy training is essential. 


But too much routine becomes dull and boring and that's why I said routine can be a bad thing. We all need some variety in our lives. It's good to go on a picnic or take a train ride into the City just for fun. Explore a part of world that you have never been to before. I love to pretend I am a tourist in my own town and take a ride on the hop on hop off bus.


Sometimes we don't want to break out of our routine because of fear. What if I hate the food at the new restaurant? Isn't it better to go back to the restaurant I always eat at where I know the food is good?  That is boring! If the food is not good, don't go back.


I know people who go to the same place every year for their holiday. They love it. They meet the same people they met last year and the year before. I would not like that at all. I guess we are all different. I once heard someone say that we are all either settlers or pioneers We need both types of people. If everyone was an adventurous pioneer, we would all be forever on the move and there would be no settled stability.


There is a time for routine and a time to break away from routine and have some fun.