Routine - A Good Thing?

Routine - A Good Thing?

It's Monday sometime after 8 AM. I roll to my right and spoon my Ellen for about 15 minutes. I then pet the dog on the head, go pee and walk down the stairs for breakfast. I feed the dog, eat my cheerios and banana while reading the newspaper. Then I take the dog out for a pee and go back upstairs to brush my teeth and poop.

Around 10 AM I take the dog for a walk, kiss my wife and leave for the gym. At 12:30 I eat my lunch (Mondays to Thursdays are luncheon meat days, Fridays are peanut butter days), take the dog for another pee and get to my computer. After reading what's going on in the world and my sports, I either run a bunch of errands or as I'm doing now, write a blog.

At around 4 PM I take the dog for a walk, shower and shave, eat a half of a protein bar, feed the dog, pour myself a glass of scotch and go to my man cave to watch TV or get on my tablet and watch Netflix.

Ellen calls me for dinner at 7PM. After dinner I take the dog for another pee and sit back to watch the many, many TV shows we've taped (we never watch commercials). Around 10 PM I take the dog for yet another pee (shit, she pees a lot), go upstairs and brush my teeth, watch TV or do the nasty with my wife (that one is my favorite routine) before falling asleep.

The only thing different on Tuesdays and Thursdays is I don't go to the gym. Wednesdays and Fridays we go to one of our many bars for happy hour drinks and food. We also meet with our happy hour friends and bartenders (yes, they all know us by now).

On the weekends we eat lunch out (Ellen does that during the week sometimes with her girlfriends), Go out for dinner either Saturday or Sunday with our friends, go to a friend's house or entertain them at our house.

To break things up, we travel every six to eight weeks. Our primary place is Las Vegas. However, even there we have a Vegas routine. Sleep, eat, drink, gamble (we're slot sluts) and every once in a while go to a show.

Just writing my routine down makes me think if my life is too routine? BTW, my routine was even less thrilling when I was working. Most of the time my routine consisted of work, eat, poop and sleep. I didn't even have the time to break things up by traveling every 6 to 8 weeks. One two week vacation was all I had and even then my boss or my staff would call me to make a decision.

Sooo, I guess I should be happy that I have more time to do things since retiring at 62. I could change things up all the time, but I kind of like my routine. The difference between working and retiring is that while working I didn't have much control of my routine. Being retired, I have almost complete control of my routine.

If everything I've shared with you seems too routine it's because I choose it to be that way. I suggest you write down your routine. After seeing it on paper, you should decide if your routine is not making you happy. If it is, write down what you could or should do to change things up. 

Remember NO shouldas or couldas. If you should or could do something to change things up for the better, DO IT