When you’re out of routine, sometimes you forget what you’re missing.
My Saturdays during the winter are all pretty much the same. They usually centre around three things: playing hockey, wings and watching hockey.
So when I recently got out of routine, I didn’t even know what day it was.
… That can be a bit of a problem anyway when you’re retired. Every day of the week is like the weekend. But I do have various routines each day that give them some kind of distinction so they don’t all roll into one.
When you’re working, you have clear separations in your days. There is morning pre-work routines, work and then evenings. I would often spice that up with some meetings or out of office work. And each day of the week I worked on some specific aspect of my sermon. Each day had some uniqueness to it.
But you know that feeling when you’re about two weeks into vacation? Once you’ve spent an inordinate amount of time by the beach or pool, you can sometimes forget what day it is.
Well, retirement can be like that unless you have some specific details to keep you focussed.
My Saturdays usually have those details. I start with some quiet time from about 5:45 to 6:45 am. Then I go to play hockey. After hockey I have breakfast and mull over the rest of my day. And sometime around noon I get the wings out of the freezer for dinner that night.
I may have a variety of things I do mid morning to late afternoon, but they vary from week to week.
At about 5:30 pm I start to prepare the wings for the fryer. I have recently streamlined that process so it takes me about half the prep time that it used to. After they sit for a half hour, I get the deep fryer up to temperature. When it is ready, I drop the wings in for seven minutes.
Usually by then it’s pregame for Hockey Night in Canada. We all (Lily and I) gather around the TV and have wings while getting updates on the games, players and teams playing that night.
Then it’s game time and I’m pretty much locked in for the evening.
… Except for this past Saturday.
To start, I didn’t play hockey in the morning, so that was weird in itself.
Then we had Lily’s whole family over for our Christmas get together. As the house filled up, I forgot what day it was. At one point in the evening my Bud light goal light sounded, indicating that the Toronto Maple Leafs had scored.
Not only had I not been watching, I wasn’t aware they were playing, even though they play every Saturday night. There was also a World Junior game that I missed.
After everyone had left and Lily and I were doing some clean up, I suddenly realized we hadn’t had wings.
The crazy thing was, I missed it and didn’t know it.
Here’s the thing: One day we will all find ourselves at the end of our lives. We will stand before God and it will be drastically out of our normal routine. For many of us, it won’t be expected; it will sneak up on us. God will ask, “Why should I let you into heaven?” I pray we all have the answer and that we didn’t miss it. … By the way, the answer to God’s question is, “I placed my faith in your Son, Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins.”
That’s Life!
Paul
Question: When have you missed something because you were out of routine? Leave your comments and questions below.
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