Defeating the Dastardly Ball

            I really need to start writing my blogs before Dungeons and Dragons. Such a fantastic idea; I think I’ll start doing it as soon as I get back on the ball.

            Of course, getting on the ball is the real trick, isn't it? Even harder is to stay on it. Last weekend, after Colleen and I had been talking about how poorly we’d been doing at keeping up our various work and chores, I said to her “Don’t worry! As of Monday, you and me, together, we’re getting on the ball!”

            And it worked...! For the first day and a half. Then Colleen got sick and, as a result, we both slipped back a bit. But we still ended up having a better week than the previous few. Once again, this weekend I said, “As of Monday, we’re getting on the ball!” After all, if a horse bucks you off, you get right back on!

            Naturally, all of this got me to thinking about why it’s so hard to get back into a routine once it’s been broken. The answer seemed pretty obvious – when a routine is broken, a new one is formed and you follow that routine instead. Our brains are wired for routine. We’re creatures of habit.

            That’s an interesting phrase, actually... looking at the rest of the world, aren't all living beings creatures of habit? Pets expect to be fed and exercised at regular times, flocks of birds migrate seasonally and just about every animal I know of follows some sort of routine. Interesting...

            Reminds me of my dad frequently saying humans are pack animals while pointing out groups of cars clustered together on the highway where it’s far safer to keep as much distance between yourself and other cars as possible.

            Where was I...?

            Creatures of habit! Right. Colleen and I are good at setting our routines – you need to be when you work from home. No boss to tell you what to do. Unfortunately, the routines are too easily interrupted – usually by shows. We can be happily working 40-50 hour weeks leading up to a show, but as soon as the event is over we often drop to 15-20 hour weeks. Why? Well, because shows interrupt our fantastic routine and tire us out enough that we feel we deserve a day off. By the end of the day off, a new routine is established and it’s hard work to get back into the old, good routine.

            So, here we are, jumping on the ball, bouncing off and trying again. I think we’ll manage it this week – after all, it’s just in time for another show to interrupt us in another two weeks. Ah, but now we’re one up on that tricky ball! We've caught onto its routine of routine breaking! Now we’re prepared take that ball and practice jumping on and off it until there’s no doubt about who’s in charge of the routines around here! If it throws us off, we can just give it a good kick!

            Then go chasing after it as it goes bouncing off down the hill so we can fetch it back and get back on it.

            Seriously, who writes this stuff? Oh yeah, me...

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.