Lately without realizing it, I got stuck in a rut. This daily grind of chasing my dreams in the same order every day, down to when I had breakfast, when I worked out, when I had “reading time”, etc. My entire life planned including the weekends which had morphed into only forced scheduled relaxation time filled with spa appointments and dinner reservations. Schedules tracked my every move with any empty spaces on my calendar leaving just a bit of glimpse of uncertainty before usually getting filled quickly throughout the week.
And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course. I always say anything you want in life is achievable through consistency, through showing up every day until you get it, put your all into anything and you’ll eventually get it (or learn why it was never meant to be yours to begin with). The key to that kind of dedication is being consistent and having a schedule, balancing out your desires with fun and relaxation so you don’t burn out.
Yet while I wasn’t lacking productivity with this well crafted routine, I was lacking creativity, which is why I needed to hack the my own carefully curated system, the corner I had unknowingly backed myself in, time to shake up my own routine and throw my carefully broken down schedule out the window. And the way that the universe tends to do it answered in a way I didn’t even know I needed.
The gift from the universe came to me in the form of a text message from an old friend “Want to go on a road trip this weekend?” The text came on Friday which meant.. tomorrow. Immediately my thought was any other weekend would’ve been better than this. Or why couldn’t I just have had a weeks notice? But I noticed that spontaneous text message which caused anxiety and discomfort was forcing me to change my routine. It was part of getting comfort with being uncomfortable – in cases where the end result is worth it. The same way breaking into a routine felt uncomfortable at first, breaking out of one felt equally so. It was putting things in perspective, reminding me that the things I had planned weren’t going anywhere, I could reschedule (despite the inconvenience), in order to make this roadtrip happen. Before I knew it, I had cleared my schedule, cancelled or rescheduled my plans and the next day had a full open day to be wide awake at 5am on Saturday ready to be picked up and on my way to the Outer Banks.
And later on, while I was in the backseat of the car singing along to 90s songs with some new friends and got the notification my “morning workout” was supposed to be starting soon, I couldn’t help but laugh. It felt in a way breaking up my routine was hacking the system. Changing things up in a way my inner world almost couldn’t keep up with, keeping myself on my toes before I even had a chance to try to maintain some bit of calm amongst the chaos and that felt really good! As someone who has a tendency to fall in love with control, I can honestly say it felt good to feel out of control, to let the universe take control because I didn’t know what to expect next, all I could do is just live moment to moment and ignore any little pings on my phone schedule trying to bring me out of it.
It felt like this reminder that being out of control was a form of control, it was a way of telling the universe I trust you, let’s take this ride together.
So I encourage you find a way to break up whatever routine you have. Ideally have it involve a change of environment too. Go hiking at 6am. Go for a walk in the park at sunset. Eat breakfast for dinner at a diner you love. Book a flight somewhere the morning of. Stay out til sunrise on Monday. Whatever the hell you want. Big or small. Just find ways to break up the tiny systems you’ve put yourself in so you can remind yourself that it’s not these systems, or structures or perfect organization that’s helping you achieve, it’s about this co creation with the universe and the trust you have that it’ll all work out and even if you throw away the plan, you’ll end up where you’re meant to be – and sometimes that’s where you least expected, like driving over the Chesapeake Bay bridge.
