Morning Routines – Thoughts from July 14 and 16, 2022

July 14, 2022

Patti was having me put in for time off for her birthday in September and she had me going back to work the day after we drive back from Vegas. She does this often. She tells me what days to take off, but doesn’t add a day at the end for me to prepare to go back to work. The biggest thing I need to do is make my vegan meals for the week. This is an ongoing issue with Patti. She can get up at 5:55 am and be at her physical work by 7:00 am. If she works from home, she can get up at 6:30 am and be in her office by 7:00 am. She has the shortest morning routine of anyone I’ve ever met. My normal morning routine takes several hours. I’m stretching, eating breakfast, brushing my teeth, and showering before I’m out the door for work. It also takes me about an hour to get to work, so that’s even more time I need before I can return to work. If you’re thinking I need to pair-down my routine, just know I’m skipping many things I would like to do.

Every routine I have in my life came out of years of experimentation. I don’t avoid change, but I have to plan to deal with it. Patti is famous for telling me about changes at the last minute. She usually tells me she told me about them before, but I tell her that if she doesn’t see me write it down, I won’t remember it. My routine, as you might guess, is not tight. I have relaxation built into it. In an emergency, I can throw out my whole routine, but the rest of the day and probably the next day will suffer for it. It keeps me from going off the rails of the crazy train. (Future note: My grammar checker wanted me to change “crazy” to something else. It apparently is not a fan of Ozzy Osbourne.)

With my recent talk of wiping, I was thinking about how some families don’t talk about bodily functions at all. Some talk about nothing else but how their body is or not functioning. I am very open with Patti about the happenings of my body and I think I have opened her up to talking about hers. We’re not having regular discussions about our poo consistency, but we talk about irregular happenings with our body. My dad used to walk around the house in his tighty-whities, so there weren’t many bodily functions that weren’t discussed. I guess this made me immune to subjects that made others squeamish. I accept the realities of my bodily functions, but many people do not.

I can talk about popping a pimple all day long, but I can’t watch people popping their pimples as long. I can watch surgeries and other bloody medical procedures, but those are much more controlled than squeezing a disgusting zit. Words and blood do not make me queasy, but pus grosses me out. I never understood people getting disturbed by words. Words are our friends. Some of them represent gross things, but they are not those gross things. The only time words can get me is when someone mentions little bugs crawling on your skin. Even writing this makes me itchy.

July 16, 2022

I was driving with three people who were all large, if not obese. One was so large that he lowered the van when he got in. Another man was old and large and could barely walk. The woman did the best, but she still struggled to get in the van. It’s just sad to see people ignoring their health so much that it becomes a handicap. I often wonder at what point in people’s lives they gave up on their physical health. They carry around so much weight, they continue getting more and more health problems. At first, the weight doesn’t seem to be a problem, but they eventually get past the point of no return.

I am addicted to sugar and have problems with my weight because of it, but I am not restricted in my movement because of the extra weight. I periodically have problems with my knees and feet, but I take those problems seriously and actively work on those areas. Letting yourself get worse and worse by doing nothing to change your behavior is sad. People just don’t take responsibility for their own lives. They are so focused on their success in other areas, they ignore their failing health. People blame their aches and pains on everything but their own unhealthy behaviors.

I am tempted to advise people to stay away from anyone who encourages their unhealthy behavior, but I know it’s unrealistic for just about everyone. If other people are addicted to truly destructive substances, most people avoid them. Most people’s addictions are with less destructive substances. They do little harm in small doses, but do major harm when consumed daily over many years. People develop harmful habits they eventually forget are harmful. They go years without questioning those habits. When someone else mentions how they are harming themselves, the pull of the addiction prevents them from changing. Even having people around them willing to help them change is not enough to get them to act. The fear of change is worse than the fear of their declining health.