Relearning Old Wisdom
Adulthood is a constant rediscovery that the things your parents told you to do when you were little are actually great ideas. Things like routines, saving money, being grateful, having a bed time and so on. Boring! Or so I used to think…
I was enjoying a Bible Project podcast the other day on the Lord’s Prayer. It was really interesting, and one point they made stood out to me: Jesus was building on the Jewish obligation to pray three times a day, a repetition that exists to help us human creatures of habit absorb that prayer stuff into our bones. Routine = helpful.
I was chatting with a friend about how hard it was to have routines when at university. While studying it is easy to have structure but this is not the same as routine – any semblance of order flies out the window when assessments are due and then you have a holiday to cram in as much tramping and socialising as possible! And then you get sick or burnt out (or maybe that was just the two of us). It’s been a bit of adjusting but now I have designated days for cooking dinner, pottery with my parents, staying over at Levon’s flat and young adults group. Bedtime is 9.30-10pm. How good! Routines are not a new idea, but I am shocked at how good they are making me feel! Less indeciesive dithering (but never none).
I don’t have as much structure as I would like because I am still unemployed. My parents are very kindly not charging me rent, but the lack of financial predictability is making me anxious and I am desperately looking for a job to save some money… Another friend texted me the other day and asked if I would like to share one thing I am grateful for and one thing I am looking forward to each day for lent. What a fantastic idea! We have been texting each other our ‘rose and buds’ each day. It has been challenging but rewarding to push past my feelings of stress, uselessness and lack of control and instead pick out the positives and the things I do have.
Like I said at the start, simple stuff and nothing new but I have a new appreciation for some boring old rules.
