Old habits die hard.

I just wondered if how many people, both men and women are creatures of habit?

I always since I can remember wash my sheets on a Monday morning, Also I do the other washing on a Tuesday.

I knew someone whose wife was a creature of habit, she made the same meal on Mondays, i.e shepherds pie, then Tuesday's was Liver and Bacon etc..

What a bore.

 

I make love to the missus every Christmas whether she wants it or not.

 

Ooh shame on you !! Are you like Santa, who only comes once a year?

 

I am not so reliable, I am afraid...

 

If I'm lucky!! more like a leap year!

 

The only time I have a routine is first thing in the morning when I get up, purely because I'm not a morning person. I'm like a zombie and function on automatic pilot. Beyond that I hate routine and make my decisions as I go along.

 

I think: much depends upon what you call 'a bore' and what you call a 'habit'.

For example: to you, washing your sheets on a Monday/other on a Tuesday is habit; yet, you define a 'habitual' food regime, a 'bore'. To someone else, that food regime is a 'habit', borne of necessity, and not a 'bore' at all!

Certainly, having a meal plan, of some predictability, could be construed as: a) comforting; b) 'normal'; effective and economical 'sound'; c) OCD! But, brought up, as I was, from a more "traditionalist" point of view (which could, in today's society, be deemed a more 'anal' way of life); habits were determined by socialtal necessity. Find a young housewife today who religiously washes their sheets on a Monday and, I think, you may find you fall into the minority. Yet, for your generation, you may fit into the majority?

Times are fluid; that isn't to say the older 'traditions' are somehow "wrong"; merely that they are harder to 'accommodate' in a modern (WORKING) lifestyle. I've emphasised 'working' because therein lies another anomoly: if you have a home/family to run, without the confines of work demands ... what is 'wrong' in incorporating those (seemingly) 'old fashioned' regimes? After all, you have little else to do? But, the 'message' only appears to get through to those women who are (responsibly) juggling a work/life balance and fall short due to time contraints.

Equally, the question begs to be asked: where is the issue with washing your sheets on a Friday (and tumble drying them on a Friday and fitting in the 'other washing' on the same day/different day)? After all, technology has advanced to a point now, where, you can wash your linen in a 40 minute cycle; dry it in further 30 minute cycle; all on "eco" settings and that leaves you ... 2250hrs of .... leisure time?

Yeah, right!

 

Mine fall to the bottom of my handbag, so even though I "know" they are in there there's 30 seconds of total panic as I rummage around the detritus in the bottom of the bag squealing "OMG, I've lost the car keys!" This has happened many, many times. Some people never learn.

Some degree of habit is good in that it keeps life running in a smooth and organised way, minimising mistakes and stress (see above).However, as people get older I think it's a mistake to become ruled by routines and habits as the brain needs the stimulus of variation and changing circumstances. Habit-bound older people are often completely lost and uncomfortable if their routine is changed for any reason. Inability to cope with change is a characteristic feature of aging, so best to keep practising to stave it off as long as possible.

 

I've got two habits:

One is paying bills as soon as they arrive (you've got to pay them at some point, so why not straightaway so you don't forget them?)

The other is making sure I don't get into the 'if I don't do so-and-so on such-and-such a day the world might stop turning' routine. As my daughters would say - just go with the flow!

 

I've Got Two Habits.





Pinched them from the Nuns At The Local Swimming Pool..

 

Since I packed up work and emigrated, I've tried very hard to avoid falling into a routine..had enough of that before!
Apart from planning household stuff around cheap-rate electricity, life is as random as I can make it

 

I must say you are doing very well for a 72 year old Shiney.Sorry we missed the celebrations when you reached the big 70