Creatures of Habit

 I am a creature of habit.

Like you could set your clock by me.

Early riser who washes up, goes to the kitchen, starts the water for coffee, grinds the coffee beans, sets the milk so it can froth, cuts up fruit or makes toast or sets up yogurt, finishes the coffee - usually a French Press or a pour over, finishes the set up, sits quietly at the dining table or if warm, outside to have a morning respite.

Morning respite includes time in the writings, meditation, prayer, and sometimes, just staring off into space as a contemplative.

I wash the dishes, tidy up the space, shower and get started for my day.

My day can depend on what is happening.

When I was in my residency, my morning routine was often truncated because I had to drive to the hospital for mandatory 8am morning meetings. I was always a bit off if I hadn't risen by 5am so that I could have an hour of renewal before seeing what the day would unfold.

The evenings are also a bit of creature-of-habit routine of me coming home, immediately taking a shower, I have a thing about bringing the world to my home or my bed.  

Once I have washed off the day, I am more relaxed and able to be present. That is present with myself or my family.  Since my husband is a very busy administrator, he is often returning home long after the Golden Hour so this wife-of-an-executive has learned to let the week be what it is and look forward to slow weekends.

Since I rise early, I am almost always retiring early to my bedroom.

Sometimes to a book-on-tape, and in our old place, sometimes to Netflix watching me.

Nine-times-out-of-ten, I am asleep by 9pm.

Like I said, you could almost set your watch by me.

So I started to think about these things that have been routine in our lives and if in the ordinariness of our being, we may miss something extraordinary.

Beyond being a creature-of-habit, like Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday being clean-the-bathroom days and has been that way with me for close to forty years, I am also a bit of a homebody.

Homebody in the sense that I have made my space relaxing and comfortable. I don't need crowds or going anywhere to be fulfilled. I am content in my being.  

Yet, could being content also rob me of possibilities?

I love to travel, to take adventures, so even in my predictability, once I get in my car - I am off to whatever comes, routine no longer exists. That is probably much to the chagrin of my husband and youngest daughter who are both destination people. I am more of a journey person. So once I make up my mind to go out-and-about, I am game for whatever may come.

Perhaps that is a bit of predictability, also.

I am good for the discovery, for the art show along the highway exit we got off on to just get gas, for the extended coffee shop conversation in the middle of the trip, for the pop-in to a craft boutique.

Maybe that is the it of life. We get a bit of both. Perhaps it is the routine of my everyday that leaves me open to the possibility of whatever will come on an adventure.

This is the sixth decade of my life. 

My late father used to say that he had more years behind him than in front of him. 

It used to always make me sad to hear that. And now, I am saying that. 

There isn't sixty-one years yet to discover life awaiting me.

If I am blessed and the One-Who-Made-Me hears my prayers of longevity, I could have thirty or even forty years. One of my late mother's first cousin's just turned ninety, so it is possible. Her little sisters were both on the other-side-of-ninety when they whispered their goodbyes, so it is still possible.

Anyway, I am thinking about this next third of my life.

What do I want to do? Who do I want to be? What is there yet for me to discover?How long will these knees hold up? Will this post-menopause middle get the best of me? 

Thinking about how I am not finished yet, how I still have so much yet to discover, I've been thinking a bit more about my routines.

Where do they serve me and where do they hinder me?

What kind of disequilibrium would I experience if I didn't have my morning coffee?

That is probably an outcome my husband and family would not want to have happen.

Considering what could be if I shake things up has been on my mind a lot lately.

Once I graduated from my residency program, I had a busy summer of moving due to my husband changing his jobs, and ended up not traveling as much as I thought I would. So I am embarking on this last weekend of unofficial summer ending with a bit of openness, a blank page of how to be.

And full confession, yes, I did rise early while my husband and daughter were sleeping in. I made my nosh of dragonfruit and pistachios and pour-over and tip-toed out to the balcony to have a bit of meditation. That is something I will probably not let go of.

I cleaned up and really did try to be quiet so they could sleep in, she is in graduate school with classes that don't end until 10pm and he is a busy educational executive with a daily two-and-half-hour commute that would get the best of anyone.

So, routine will serve me for the next third of my life. My home is tidy, I take the five or ten or fifteen minutes to put things away and then head out, it helps me to have my home ready for my return. Like I said, I could stay in this space all day, so keeping it that way is something that gives me peace.

But adventure and seeing what can happen with a bit more spontaneity is a state-of-being I'm willing to put on like a crisp fall jacket.

Just like I enjoy getting in the car and letting it go in any direction, I want to be open to whatever the future presents.

There is something to be had in just being and going-with-the-flow that moves one past complacency, past that-is-just-the-way-it-is and opens one up to what could be.

What could be is the space I am entering in this part of my life.

So, I will still be a creature-of-habit, at sixty-one, some things will never change with me, but I am adding a bit of dare-to-dream, dance anyway, take the leap, say yes to the offer, and enjoy what comes next.

©2025. All Rights Reserved.

Looking out over the horizon and considering what the days will bring.