Do you ever those weeks, days or months or maybe a life that is totally chaotic? Have you noticed what happens to you when you get out of routine? I personally become quite grumpy, especially when I have no time to think or I don't have some 'me' time. I know that 'me' time is beneficial for us and even a routine has certain benefits but I've reminded myself recently, that although I was a reluctant at first, it was good for me to get out of routine.
The first event was when I had to rush to Hong Kong to run our 2 day
'PowerPresenting' programme with a group of investment bankers. You may be thinking, what's the problem with that? There's no problem at all. I love presenting training and I love Hong Kong, but the workshop was confirmed with two day's notice and my week was already sorted. So my perfectly planned week became total chaos to fit in a four day trip to Hong Kong. Regardless, I turned around everything at last minute and really enjoyed being out of my routine.
The second event that quickly snapped me out of my routine was my return to Bali when I had visitors from all directions and different circles arriving before me because of the knock-on effect of flying back from Hong Kong. As soon as I hit the ground in Bali I went straight into a late dinner catching up with friends, followed by running back to the airport the next day to pick up friends and some more friends arriving later in the week, followed by some more friends coming to dinner early in the following week. My children were on school holidays and their friends were visiting Bali too, so we were stretched in all directions and my routine turned into complete chaos. I have to admit that I did have my grumpy moments when innocent friends thought they could see and do so many activities in one day that ranged from riding on elephants and surfing all before 3pm when they had massages booked at their villa! The activities were at least two hours away from each other and with Bali 'rubber time', it's an achievement to do one activity per day. In the end, we had a fun day at the waterpark as the tide was too high for surfing and nobody fancied the long ride to see the elephants. Among all the chaos, I had food poisoning for one day and retreated to the darkness and solitude of my bedroom. Although not the most welcome way to have 'me' time, my friends were happy to take my 3 girls out for the day and I could recover on my own, so it worked out well.
The third event was at the gym when I was persuaded by a friendly Australian, called Jody (for months I only knew her as the happy, smiling Australian when we bumped into each other at the treadmill) to attend a gym class. This would take me totally out of my routine as I usually like to get to the gym at 7.30pm so I can start working at 9am. The gym class started at 9am! But the class sounded so much fun, I decided that I could be flexible with my work schedule. Run by an exceedingly charming, camp and extremely fit, bronzed, Balinese instructor whose biceps bulged as though they were going to burst, the class was packed with keen, toned, fit looking young women. I promptly hid at the back, behind a lady who had some extra 'padding' like me (she re-assuringly told me that my arms and legs were ok, but I had a big tummy like her), only to frequently find myself at the front leading the class when he told us to turn around!
Looking like an uncoordinated rag doll, I found myself doing the opposite of what the rest of the class were doing, while I tried to reverse in my head what the instructor was showing us and desperately trying to catch up with the rest of the group. My puzzled facial expressions must have said it all, as my caring instructor observed my plight and kept on pointing at me, screeching above the loud, booming music in his high pitched Indonesian voice, "It's ok. Have fun." I did indeed have fun and felt a wonderful rush of endorphins by doing something out of routine. I have never laughed, panted and sweated all at the same time so much before. The extra bonus for me, was that after what felt like months on the treadmill (ok nearly two months with breaks in between) and failing to shift any weight, I ended up aching in places that I didn't know I could ache. We had so much gyrated our hips and stuck out our buttocks that it was painful to sit down afterwards and we had stretched our upper torsos in so many directions, I knew that my waist still had muscles in it somewhere. Psychologically I felt like my body had already been toned in the places where I would like most impact and this was all because I was persuaded to do something out of my routine.
Thank you to all those events and people who get us out of our routine.
The following two quotes are great examples why chaos and getting out of routine can be good for us:-
"Chaos breeds life, while order breeds habits."
Henry Adams
And
"As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge."
Henry Van Dyke
Enjoy life and the new dimensions of the soul!
Janet
Looking like an uncoordinated rag doll, I found myself doing the opposite of what the rest of the class were doing, while I tried to reverse in my head what the instructor was showing us and desperately trying to catch up with the rest of the group. My puzzled facial expressions must have said it all, as my caring instructor observed my plight and kept on pointing at me, screeching above the loud, booming music in his high pitched Indonesian voice, "It's ok. Have fun." I did indeed have fun and felt a wonderful rush of endorphins by doing something out of routine. I have never laughed, panted and sweated all at the same time so much before. The extra bonus for me, was that after what felt like months on the treadmill (ok nearly two months with breaks in between) and failing to shift any weight, I ended up aching in places that I didn't know I could ache. We had so much gyrated our hips and stuck out our buttocks that it was painful to sit down afterwards and we had stretched our upper torsos in so many directions, I knew that my waist still had muscles in it somewhere. Psychologically I felt like my body had already been toned in the places where I would like most impact and this was all because I was persuaded to do something out of my routine.
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