Remembering Rogers' Routine

1. Routine: Noun - a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program.

2. Superstition: Noun - a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief. 

You know, I was thinking today as I got out of the shower after a long day at work, that routines are interesting things.  Every morning when I wake up - which is precisely 10 minutes before my alarm goes off every morning - I go to the bathroom, take out my retainers, brush my teeth, and wash my hair, shortly after turning the morning coffee on.  I then go back into my room, turn my now blaring alarm off, get dressed, and head upstairs for a bit of breakfast, some Bible, and Clash.  I'm able to wake up 1 hour before work because the previous evening, I already packed my lunch, laid out my clothes, premade my coffee, and packed my work bag.  This probably seems perfectly normal to you; you probably have a very similar routine of your own.  But think about this: what if one little thing in your routine gets messed up by something.  Doesn't it make your day get all out of whack?  It does me.

Coffee, order of socks, 

Music before and after,

Certain smiles at certain stops,

Repetition to avoid disaster:

Routine.

What if Mr. Rogers had come in the door singing "Won't you Be My Neighbor" and, instead of taking off his suit coat, promptly gone and changed shoes first?  To be honest - that was the first thought that popped into my mind as I showered this evening.  I think I would have flipped a lid, even as a child.

Why do we have routines?  Some people would probably say that we do repetitious things because we are superstitious.  We don't want that one little thing going wrong or differently to throw off our whole day!  I surely don't.  But then I thought, and thought again as I watched the Mr. Rogers theme song, I think we were blessed with satisfaction in routines because we take comfort in the familiar.  And in the midst of hectic planning for my fiance's upcoming school, or my job, or getting married, or what have you (assuming you're not doing all the same things I'm doing. ;) ), I find immense pleasure and comfort in knowing myself well enough to go through the motions and actually enjoy it.  Do you?