I'm Outta Control!

 

It's six pm and I'm eating dinner, which isn't unusual because that's when people eat dinner. I'm not a stickler for this routine but I know a couple who eat dinner at precisely six pm, on the dot, and have for the last twenty plus years. I also knew a couple who changed their bed sheets every Thursday evening. Hey, I change my sheets but I don't keep track of when. Back in the day, before direct deposit, I had to write a check for a bill and mail it off. When I got a bill in the mail I put it aside and hoped it would disappear. After a week or two I'd finally send it off. I was once visiting a friend who just got a bunch of mail. She pulled out what looked like bills and proceeded to write out checks then and there. Well, fuckety fuck, I had never seen this done before. Is this how most people pay their bills? I was just doing what I had been seeing my parents do. Look and hide the bills, then finally pull out the check book. I don't understand the world of such discipline. I don't make my bed in the morning. I don't eat tacos on Tuesday. I'm a laid back kind of gal and I wonder if this is helpful or hurtful? Will having a daily routine make me healthier and happier? I don't know, but this article says it's true. Disciplined people are healthier. 

I live alone so I don't have to cater to another's whims, like clean sheets or going to bed at a certain hour. Last night I didn't get to sleep until 4am. I scrolled the www, read Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde for a bit, then made a grocery list until finally sleep took over. I also ate a scoop of peanut butter in bed. I don't get up at a certain hour either. When I once stayed overnight at a friend's house after we went through a bottle of peach schnapps and playing poker, she led me to a lovely bed. Sleeping in someone else's house, you gotta follow their routine in my opinion, so I asked what time she'll be arising. When she announced she always gets up at five in the am, I laughed. She does and she did. Sooo... what if I went to bed at eleven every night? Would I toss and turn until the sun begins to rise, or will I fall asleep with ease? 

Sometimes, I think I should be that type of person who eats dinner at the same hour. I think these kind of people are a bit smarter than myself. That's discipline. That reminds me of a book I read years ago about a father and daughter who made a pact to read together every day for an hour or so, for a one hundred days, no matter what. The young woman was in her twenties at the time and had a busy social life, but Dad was there every single day or night. She was once in some play and rehearsals ran late. In walked her father who patiently waited until she was done so they could read together. Maybe that's weird, but I know I don't have that much control. I don't make New Year's resolutions because I know I won't keep them. I admire people who can. I admire people who get up every morning to jog in rain, snow, heat and humidity. Maybe they're crazy. Maybe I'm lazy. 

So for a little experiment, for the next month I will make my bed every single day. It's a start. I want to see if that transcends into other aspects of my life. Maybe I'll start going to bed at a reasonable hour and eat dinner precisely at six. It's the laid back gal versus Captain Thingy.

Let's do this!

*You AI haters can relax. It doesn't know how to tell time.