Stress and Joy of Routine

 

Stress and Joy of Routine

Gem of Man’s Personality

 

You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret to your success is found in your daily routine.   

John C. Maxwell

 

After my graduation in commerce, in 1965, I was in search of “a job”, as those were the days of generalists and not of specialists, making both ends meet was more important than a specific career as at present. A commerce teacher’s job in a community school came my way and I accepted it. When I went to join, it was a pleasant surprise to find one of my maternal uncles (mama) also working as a Lecturer in a local Sanskrit College at that place. He was a scholar of Sanskrit and had extensive knowledge of Hindu scriptures. I stayed with him for a few days in a complex where some other teaching staff of the college were also staying. During my stay, it was observed, between 05.00 to 06.00 PM daily no teaching staff would be available in that residential compound. After a few days, I gathered courage and tried to find out what was the reason for such a collective absence. I came to know, at that time all would go to the residence of the Pradhan Acharya of the Sanskrit College who was also staying in the same premises and would also be waiting for them. He was a father figure, a scholar and quite old. It was the period of learning, awakening and betterment of life and actions. Pradhan Acharya always had something extra-ordinary to teach, tell and explain to his audience. This had become a part of daily life of those staying in that campus. A routine with them, followed strictly for the love of reverence and knowledge.

 

A routine is the usual series of things that you do at a particular time in a day or the whole day. However it is not limited to a day, it can be for any period may be a week or a year. It is appears to be a very simple thing as we all do daily but it is not that simple as we think. The most important about routine is the regularity with which it is performed like the nature, seasons, day and night: they follow very rigid path; they do perform: so are their results. One daily habit can change everything in one’s life.

 

Daily routine is the store house of energy both physical and emotional too, as you perform it quick without effort, fast and for the love of it: it gives one the satisfaction of having done it and motivation to perform tasks ahead and achieve one’s goal. It is a physical exercise that too without effort and keeps one fit.

 

To follow routine rigidly is highly complicated task, as it requires sacrifice of comfort, leisure and postponement attitude with an element of positive arrogance in the initial stage of adopting the routine. Once you are on the path: you become routine and feel discomfort when unable to complete it. We become what we repeatedly do: it’s part of our personality: for example if one has the habit of getting up early in the morning at an appointed time; punctuality becomes a hall mark of his character and he is always in time everywhere never late, on the contrary we all know some persons are always late comers everywhere.

Watch your actions, they become your habits.  Watch your habits, they become your character.

Vince Lombardi

A routine is also the practice of regularly doing things in a fixed order. It can’t be haphazard, it has to be systematic and in tune with nature; not that what one does is a routine: when adopting a routine give it your thought and wisdom: it has lifelong consequences beneficial one.

We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle

 

As stress is integral part of life on this planet so is routine in life. We cannot lead happy life without stress: but without routine we can’t live life at all. We have to follow a routine; logical and rational would result in happy and satisfying experiences. If you live life on ad-hoc basis results would be haphazard.

 

Routine becomes increasingly important in old age: we need it more as we grow old as body become feeble so its functions and capacities. We have to regulate, adopt fixed time, fixed quantities, even the fixed postures above all control over tongue both as to the taste as well as speech to avoid stress and discomfort both physical and emotional.

 

Even worship of the Lord needs a routine for years, decades even centuries together as our scripture tell us. In other words one can reach to the Lord following the routine. Thus a routine has innumerable achievements hidden in it.

 

Determination that too strong one like all other achievements in life is the first requirement of routine: starting a routine is the most difficult process: start it with all the strength at your command: with minimum possible which one can maintain and it is always possible to improve it, lengthen and make it broad based and pointed to a particular aim also.  

 

Another element of a successful routine is the principle of self-denial- not doing the things which one can otherwise do- a foundation stone of character building and in this modern age of competition that of career building also. Self-denial has been a source of energy to many saints and seers in their journey of enlightenment.

 

Routine, may sometimes, some may feel, has become monotonous sparking some irrelevance in life, in such a situation give routine an intentional break to introduce some spice in life and also in the routine: that will strengthens one’s commitment towards routine. Be assured routine is not a rut, it is cut above.

 

Motivation is what gets you started.

 Habit is what keeps you going. 

 Jim Rohn

 

Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us.  We become what we repeatedly do.

 Sean Covey

 

Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Lao Tzu