I recently read about how habits help us to live happier, more productive lives because whole segments of our lives don’t have to be thought out. If every morning we get up and have the exact same routine, there may be hours before the taxing and vexing decision-making processes and ever present ‘this is good for me but I don’t feel like doing it’ battles get waged in brains. This idea resonated with me because before the pandemic, I had routines. During the pandemic, I created new routines. Right now, the only thing routine is that there is no routine. Things aren’t ‘back to normal’ but they are still different from a year ago.
What I’ve figured out is that it is not balance I’m needing, but harmony. Balance is giving up one thing for another, while harmony is having all of the things work together.
How do we find harmony? Start with reflecting on values and, once those are clear, consider how your life is actualizing those values. Begin to trim the things that don’t, add the things that do, and imagine or tell the story to yourself about the life you want to live. As we move into a time of year when the night far outlasts the day, when the call to quiet contemplative evenings is interrupted by the continuous advertising and pressure to save-big-buy-it-all-repeat-repeat!, may you find some simple routines that bring meaning and harmony to your days. If you want to quadruple the impact, have a routine of reaching out to someone every day with a card, call, or text reminding them you care or asking how they are doing. Whatever it includes, may harmony become your new routine.
In peace, Stacy Craig