One of the many things which I take for granted is the fact that I have a routine. It’s far from perfect and it’s certainly not 100% consistent but there is a degree of continuity in my day-to-day life.

Another thing which I take for granted are the disruptions in my routine- those things that make me appreciate having a routine while breaking up the monotony of living in a groundhog day of routine-ness.

When I stopped drinking, my entire world was leveled. There was no routine, everything was new. There was no schedule, no compass, no map and no clock. I had no idea what to do with my time. I was reliant on routine and I had no point-of-reference.

In the book, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, it says that the majority of our actions are subconscious and based on habit. If we were to think about every move that we made from waking up to brushing our teeth to putting on our socks, we would go insane. It’s nice to have a routine which is sound enough to not require a great deal of thought.

The disruptions to my routine are where I find the most frustration but also the most growth. I need problems. I need change. I need to be served situations that I do not find ideal so that I might find new territories which I would not otherwise explore.

I have a vested interest in problems. If my life were void of problems, I would have a big problem. My existence is made up of a desire to get somewhere else, only to get there to find I want to be somewhere different.

Sure, I want to sit on a beach somewhere and just watch the world go by but at some point, I want something different. If you force me to sit on that beach, every day, for the rest of my life, you have sentenced me to a prison. There is a degree of change, a level of drama and a certain amount of difficulty which is necessary for me to feel like I am leading a life of purpose.

I say all of that to say, I am grateful to lead a life which has some semblance of a routine and I am appreciative of the situations which throw me out of that routine even at the expense of frustration and anger.

Make it a good one today.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake