It's Routine

Hi Readers,

 Another gap between posts while I have been waiting for that next bit of inspiration. If anything, there has been lots of writing time available as the past week has been horrendous here in terms of weather with many days topping 40 degrees plus. A lot of time inside escaping the heat. A bit of relief today with only 24 degrees before another week of 30 degrees plus which isn't that bad after what we had last week.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Being a creature of habit, I always start each day by getting up early and having some form of exercise, depending on the weather, location or motivation. Last week the extreme heat made me choose more carefully what I did at each part of the day, and although there was a little voice telling me that maybe I could have a break, I just found that I couldn't as these habits are so locked in that they are routines that I find incredibly hard to ignore or alter. Even if I decide to perhaps have a break and try to lay in bed a bit longer, I become too impatient and restless and end up getting up and doing something anyway. This really struck me one morning last week when I tried to skip the early workout, but ended up doing it anyway. Normally I'd be finished by a certain time, but as I'd delayed the start I was now finishing it much later than I'd like, and this did stress me a little. 

Why? Not sure, but I was annoyed that I could have finished earlier so that I could have more of the morning to do some things I had planned. It's not as if I had lots to do, it was just that my normal routine got altered and it got me thinking why this happens. 

In previous posts I have often mentioned the motivation or inspiration that has prompted that post, and isn't it amazing how some things just drop into your lap at the right time?

I'd kayaked in the morning last Friday, starting very early in the dark so as to avoid the heat. Later in the day I jumped on my bike in the shed and rolled the legs for a while, and as I felt good and the heat had abated somewhat, I decided to let the legs recover with a bit of a walk. 

In went the earbuds and the search for a good podcast began, and I settled on one that focussed on the Collingwood AFL player, Scott Pendlebury, an 8 part series. This podcast goes in depth as to what it takes to stay at the top as an elite athlete, detailing his training methods and recovery techniques. I found it utterly brilliant, you'll find it on "The Howie Games"

But the thing that really piqued my interest was when he explained how he would be so obsessed about not altering his approach to various things. For example, in his early days he had a great game after eating a certain meal the night before. This was then locked in for the next few years, something he would rarely if ever deviate from. Other things crept in as well, such as wearing a certain pair of jocks for each game, packing his bag a certain way, getting the precise amount of sleep and only eating certain foods on certain days etc.

I can relate to this so much, and even though I was no AFL player, much the opposite, I too did so many of these things as well. For years I wore the same jocks when playing, and trust me when I say they were a bit worn out by the time I stopped playing. My bag would be packed in a certain way and I'd check it numerous times before leaving, even though I knew everything would be in there. While getting ready for the game I'd do certain stretches at different times and always ensure that I'd get dressed in exactly the same way before each game. Even when discussing this with other team mates they would also confess to having their own routines that they just couldn't sway from.

In one of his episodes where Pendlebury addressed this he was made aware by a sports psychologist that this was actually hindering his preparation rather than helping it. 

Yes, he was still playing at an amazing level, but this fixation with routines that really had no bearing on his playing ability was actually taking his mind away from his core purpose as a player and captain of his team. If in some way he could focus less on these routines, he would be freeing his mind up to focus more on his game.

At first he found this so hard to accept, but subtle changes enabled him to start changing things gradually, rather than all at once. 

For instance, once he started to have kids he learnt to focus more on his family rather than himself. Rather than having the risotto that was his staple every Friday night, if the kids were having pasta, then he'd have pasta too. If he tended to watch a certain program the night before a game but the kids were watching something else, he'd join them too. The lucky jocks got the flick, he became less paranoid about ensuring that his bag was packed correctly and began to trust himself more that everything was okay if he did it differently.

Can you relate to any of this?

I'm not suggesting that you have to be an elite athlete, but just think of the many routines that you have that you may not be entirely aware of until something jumps in and forces you to alter them. How do you respond?

If you are like me you might be thinking that the sky is about to fall, when all that has really happened is you are doing something a bit earlier or later than you usually do. Upon reflection, do you also feel stupid for thinking that way?

And are others so aware of the way that you follow routines that they are careful not to do anything to disrupt them? Do they tiptoe on eggshells so as not to disrupt you?

I'll be the first to plead guilty here !!!! Sorry to all those who I have peed off !!!!

So this weekend I decided to deliberately try and NOT stick to some of my routines and boy did I find it hard this morning.

I had the kayak already packed in the car for a paddle this morning, but when I woke up I was feeling pretty fatigued, but rather than push through it I forced myself to just lay in bed and listen to music instead. It was hard, but I made myself think about how I was feeling about not sticking to this routine. I could still go later today or, shock and horror, have a break for today 😲!!

This has been my home away from home for the past few weeks, some mornings I have the entire lake to myself, so it's always hard to pass up the chance for a paddle.

Yes, I was fidgety and trying my hardest to not get up, but as my body was feeling tired after a big week of exercising last week, I made myself have a rest day. Just the staying in bed until 9.00 made me feel like a sloth, as my routine is to be exercised and brekky done by 8.00 at the absolute latest!

But it hasn't been a complete win as all morning it has been on my mind as to when I'll get out and do something later today. Admittedly the daily bike sessions are now having a noticeable effect as when I walk I can now go longer distances, relatively pain free, no real limp and a great recovery. So maybe that routine has to stay!!!

This got me thinking about what are the things I do that are routines that I just find it hard to deviate from and what things do I do where it doesn't really matter if they change or not. And do they affect others in any way?

I have a few routines on a Saturday that are probably more like habits than routines, and these have changed a bit since I retired. I love listening to a particular radio segment each Saturday and I usually plonk myself in a chair outside for that hour with a book while I listen to it. But yesterday I decided to do something different while I listened to it, and prepared myself earlier in the day for it. I decided to bake!!

Readers, I generally don't bake as I find all the fartarsing about with ingredients so annoying, but yesterday I actually looked through some of the recipes for things I'd been saving and decided to have a crack at them.

Then I started to question myself. Is it still baking if it doesn't involve cooking, as I was making slices?

Anyway, I'd had a solid bike session and was ready to go, so for the next hour I made two things.

1. No Bake Mint Aero Traybake (I'm still perplexed why it is called 'No Bake Traybake')

2. Vanilla Cheesecake Slice

Why did I choose these? They popped up online and looked good so I saved them, plus they looked easy enough for me to make.

It was bit of a mess just doing the cheesecake first!!

But it got done. Didn't look like the picture in the recipe, but it suits me.

Now it was time for the No Bake Aero Traybake

Slowly coming together

And done!! Excuse the laptop as I was closely following the recipe on my screenshots.

One thing that really bugged me was that in the recipe the filling was green, but mine is white. I put in the peppermint essence as instructed, but for the life of me, no green!! It tastes green though!!

I also got adventurous last week and made sausage rolls. I did experiment the week before, and although they tasted nice, they did look a bit industrial.

These ones turned out a bit better, but I really need to pay more attention to the quantity of ingredients as my freezer is chockers with them now. I even made a king size one just to see if it could be done. As for the ingredients, let's just say that a few tins of beans and mixed veges found their way in, so they are sort of a little bit healthy.

I definitely think I'll be visiting our son who lives across town with a few containers of slice later today, otherwise no amount of walking, paddling, cycling or gym will save me from resembling this...

Readers, if you are like me there are probably things you couldn't have cared less about until you did something about them. And that creates new routines for you that you can find it hard to let go of.

For example, in our kitchen there is a large drawer that houses all the plastic containers, tupperware etc. And with that goes the usual problem of the lids never matching any of the containers. You with me? I can see you nodding your heads in agreement.

Well, a few months ago I cracked it when I just couldn't find the right lid when I needed it, so a spur of the moment decision had me spreading out all the containers and all of the lids and matching them up. Then they were stacked back in the drawer in a way so that if you grabbed a container the lid was with it. This had been annoying me for over 3 years, so I did something about it. And I kept to the system.

However, over the past few months I have had lots of visitors, and inevitably they didn't have the same respect for my system as I did, and now it is becoming a bit of 'Container Lotto' when I look for matching pieces. So why do I let something as pithy as this upset me somewhat? After a few years of not great things happening, I now get worried about a few bloody plastic containers!!!!!

This is probably the main reason for this post, in that I have let myself become worried about one or some of my routines being disrupted, when in the big picture of things they are totally non sensical. In some part of my mind they are considered important, when in reality they are pathetic, so I need to see them for what they are.

And what it has made me see is that there are so many other routines I have that are so embedded that I may have a little trouble in beginning to let them go somewhat.

I just suppose everything has to start somewhere.

A similar thing happened in my pantry, I just couldn't find things, and some of the things in there pre-dated all eras of food safety!!!

So now the pantry is organised, and just as I got antsy about the containers getting mixed up again, I hope I won't get the same way with the pantry.

As for the fridge, well anything goes there!!!

As last year was my first year of retirement I sort of had a few plans that took me through most of the year with travel, surgeries and just enjoying not working.

This year is pretty much an open book, I have travel planned but even that has had a big change recently. There looks to be more surgeries (Ho hum🥱) so a lot depends on those and when I'll be able to do things. Plus I've also been booked up for some work which I found I actually enjoyed at the end of last year. I'll just see how it goes for the start of this year and see if I want to continue with it or pull the plug.

So Readers, this waffle has been very relaxing to write as it has made me take stock of the things that I feel MUST be done as opposed to the things that CAN be done. and how I choose to respond to them. I have deliberately made the decision with a few things to do them differently, at another time or not at all and to be more aware of how I will respond to them. In most cases I feel that I have to stick to my routines (eg especially exercise) as it is more for the mind than the body. If I don't do certain things I get uptight or anxious, but I recognise just like Scott Pendlebury did that this causes just more angst. That eventual liberation of not letting these things seem so important is something I'll continue to look forward to.

I hope that you can identify some of those ants of yours that feel like elephants and that you too can begin to let go a little.

Until my next post,

Cheers 😁