Adjust my routine pattern
I think one of the biggest signs of aging or aging, if you prefer, is the inability, or at least the ingrained curmudgeon ability, to adjust from an old routine to a new one. It’s hard to change and rearrange when we know that the old way, the familiar way, the tried and true way is the best. Sometimes it is not even the best way, but it is part of a repetitive pattern and procedure that we have worked with for years. And sometimes it doesn’t even come close in the best way as new ideas and technologies have come in, but that doesn’t mean that we convert with open arms and a happy attitude. Sometimes irritable irritability just shows up.
An example is loading the dishwasher. As we all know, there are special ways to pack it well to save water, the dishes to run every few days and the job is well, or at least semi-well, done. Then a wise son comes along who says, “Mom, you’re packing the dishes too tightly. Give them some airspace. And get them going every day! Do you really want rotten food particles inches from your kitchen and table area? ? ” He may be right and he definitely means well, but am I really prepared for this abrupt departure from a customary method? Maybe for today, as he continues his visit with me, I will comply and then tomorrow, when he is gone, I can go back to my old habits.
Another example is paying bills. I love my checkbook and pen and get excited when new stamps are offered at the post office. Because of this, as each invoice arrives, I write the check, affix my stamp, and put the envelope in my mailbox. It is a common procedure and it feels good. My daughter, on the other hand, is in awe of my old-fashioned bill paying methodology and often offers advice: “Mom, it’s so simple to set everything up online so that some bills are paid automatically and others, even though you have to type in the amount. , they complete quickly and ship the day you request them. You will no longer wonder if your old-fashioned route arrived on time. “
Well, this seems like a straightforward solution, especially since she’s home enough days to sort out all the online business with my bank. We practice together and I take a lot of notes (I guess that’s pretty outdated too). When she leaves, I have confidence in my new routine, confidence, that is, until the first bill. The number of steps and clicks seems to have multiplied since the moment my daughter and I worked together and now, instead of a well-defined road, I discover an unwieldy maze. The remedy, you ask? The check and stamp trick that I’ll continue until your next visit, when I pretend the bill-paying dilemma has just arisen.
One last example is my swimming schedule. I started swimming about seven years ago and every Tuesday and Thursday since then I have jumped out of bed, put on my wetsuit and entered the pool at 5:30 am. From time to time I had to go at noon or at night, but usually at dawn I found myself rowing. Suddenly, the old guard withdrew and the new guard took up position. One of his first moves was to adjust the lap times. Now the first opportunity is at 6am and the early entry that used to be 11:30 is now noon, and the afternoon session, good luck. I realize that these changes are not astonishingly huge or inconvenient, yet I am having trouble adjusting my thinking to my old habit and positively linking them to the new times.
The first week I grumbled a lot and that’s how I started week 2, thinking that my discontent could move mountains, or at least sometimes. It wasn’t, so by Thursday, instead of leaving so early, I enjoyed my extra half hour of coffee and the newspaper, plus I even found some free time to write. I guess I’ll survive The good news is that with this prospect of satisfaction I have also decreased in age.
