On Routines…
This post has been delayed, due to a few factors outside of my control. I do apologize for that, part of what I’ve wanted to accomplish with this blog is a sense of consistency. However, not every day will work out in the fashion I would like, and that’s just life. In the end, I’m still a fledgling writer and blogger. I am not, however, a fledgling father and husband, and those have to be my first priority.
That having been said, I’m beginning to notice how powerful my routines have become in influencing my actions and changing my perceptions especially. Part of my fear, to this stage, of the act of routines is just how much they can modify how you perceive the flow of time. For instance, I met the wonderful Kevin J Anderson and Jim Butcher on May 22nd of this year. It feels like yesterday to me. My resolve to write daily feels like something I’ve hardly come to understand, let alone have accomplished (excepting a few misses, like yesterday) for two full months. When I was a freshly minted adult, I lost myself in such routines. When I could be bothered to try and grow more as a person, I was already 27. Our lives are irreplaceable gifts, and I just don’t want to end up wasting what I’ve been given by losing myself to a formulaic existence.
My own personal fears of losing track of the days notwithstanding, routines are exceptionally powerful for achieving basically anything you can think of. Case in point, weight loss. As of this morning, I am down to 239.2 pounds. When I began my journey downwards, I topped out at 276 pounds. That was earlier this year. By establishing daily routines of exercise, weighing myself (more important than you’d think), and maintaining my diet by taking it one day at a time, those factors accumulated across the months and have led to significant amounts of weight loss. More importantly, because I have established the routines, because they have become less a thing I do and more a definition of who I am as a person, I do them without thought. I don’t have to think about maintaining my diet, because it’s something I do without any real conscious input. I am of the opinion that you cannot simply “quit” bad habits. You must replace each bad habit you wish to get rid of with a good habit. So far, that’s worked out wonderfully.
These are just a few of the thoughts I had yesterday and this morning as I lay waiting for sleep to arrive. I hope that I do not miss the daily goal I have set for myself again. I am letting down the man I wish to become when that happens. I want writing to become not only what I do, but part of who I am.
Respectfully,
Justin
