Being the restless, boredom-shunning soul that I am, I always look forward to the next trip. But today I’m back to a more mundane routine, and I couldn’t be happier. As great as it is to bust out of the norm from time to time, we need our routines. Especially me.
Mood music for this post: “Back in The Saddle” by Aerosmith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDKxUt9UkmU
For starters, a routine is vital for someone in recovery from addiction and mental illness. I’m on a strict food plan to keep the urge to binge eat at bay. I also need to be in bed at a certain point, typically around 9 p.m., because I’m up and at ’em at around 4 the next morning.
When I travel, I’m up just as early but I’m almost always in bed much later the night before. There are friends to meet up with in whatever town I’m visiting, or the parties sponsored by security vendors. It’s also hard to get the perfect ingredients for my food plan, so I wing it slightly. I stay abstinent and sober, but I eat more restaurant food than I’m comfortable with.
Being back on routine means I can weigh everything I eat on my little scale and have the normal bed time. I’m also glad to be back in the office, since I really feed off the creativity of my co-workers. This morning, my first time in the office this month, I arrived to see that my office mates had a little fun with the run-in I had with the U.S. Secret Service last week:
My next trip is in a month, and I know I’ll be looking forward to it.
I also know my routine will make me itchy after a few weeks. 
That’s just the way I am.
But for today, I’m glad to be looking at a more mundane day.
Me too.. as much as I love sleeping in during the summer, I can’t wait til I get back to work, and get back on a real schedule…. I call it a touch of the ’tism… my need for schedule and order.
I’m with you on that one. I’ll be glad for the kids to be back in school, the house to stay clean for more than 5 minutes at a time, me to be able to read more than one sentence before something breaks my concentration. We all need our routines!
I can relate! I suffer from anxiety..I have come a long way but still..when my routine is broken..even staying at someone’s house a night or going away on vacation…I get a little bit of anxiety and a feeling of being uncomfortable. I still enjoy my time but really looking forward to being home and back in my “routine.” There is a certain comfort to it! The problem is without breaking out of the bubble..and breaking that routine, you miss out on experiences that are out there..I’m working on it a day at a time! Thanks Bill..keep up the great work!
Routine I’ve haven’t always liked-but now I have to embrace it. Bed at 9pm. Meds at the same time every day. I need to work on a daily schedule. To get me motivated to do more/function better. Eat healthy. Eat regularly. I’m so routined that if something out of the ordinary happens, it can throw me off. Too much. Damn that middle ground is so hard to find. I’m glad to read you’re more flexible.