On Sunny Lane: Routine or Rut?

One evening last week, as Sweetheart and I were sitting on the couch watching television, we looked at each other and asked ourselves, “Are we in a routine or a rut?”

Our days are pretty much the same. Well, actually, after breakfast, we do whatever work needs to be done until it’s time for dinner. We call it dinner because it’s the big meal of the day for us.

After dinner, we putter around a little bit, but it often leads to us lying down for a nap. Once we wake up, we putter around some more, or finish some project we may have started. Then it’s time for a light supper.

After supper, we watch the news--local and world--and then our favorite game shows. When they are finished, we play our own games until later in the evening. It seems that the last TV program of the night is like comfort food is to soothe our jangled nerves--or whatever nerves we have.

It was at this point in the night that we asked each other that probing question. As we talked it over some more, we realized that there are other things that we do over and over. For instance, there is church and jubilee every Sunday, the dance on Mondays, the gospel jam on Thursdays and Bluegrass on Saturdays.

Next are holidays and birthdays and anniversaries to remember and celebrate. They come up pretty regularly. We look forward to them--or do we just endure them?

I just looked up the definition of the word “routine” on the Internet. It says, “A set of customary or unchanging and often mechanically performed activities or procedures.”

My definition of rut is a routine that you can’t get out of, whereas, Sweetheart and I can change our routine any time we want.

I think one answer to the routine/rut question is another question.”Are we enjoying ourselves?” If we are, it probably doesn’t matter what we call it.

And, maybe, if we are enjoying ourselves, we can call it living life to the fullest. Or we could just call it being blessed.

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Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com