A healthy routine?

healthy routine

Not all routines are good for us Image - KieferPix/Shutterstock

There are apparently many benefits to having a daily routine but there is also a serious risk that our existence will become mundane and predictable. Inopportunely we don’t usually realise it’s happening until we are already set in our ways; with no awareness of when it was that we switched to “automatic pilot”.

It’s astonishing how many decades can pass us by whilst we are busy with these agendas and it’s often only when something significant in our life changes that we come to our senses. Even so, how does one even begin to change a habit of a lifetime and break the procedures we’ve practiced since childhood?

Knowing what we need to do each day and not having to worry about making plans can help us relax and reduce stress, particularly when we are getting enough exercise and a good night’s sleep. The big downside is that valuable and irreplaceable time is passing us by as we repeat the process, day in and day out, if in busy oblivion.

Even when well organised, if we have no sense of purpose or have to face another monotonous day with no opportunity to be creative and with no sense of wonder, life will become increasingly more challenging, until the point where getting up in the morning or leaving the house becomes a chore in itself.

As we get older this risk is far higher. How does one fill up all those hours in a day once retired or when the children have left home? How does one find the motivation to get up, washed, dressed and repeat the same process day after day, far too often in solitude? Marbella offers many examples of the elderly who have found themselves widowed or separated and with no family to entertain or support them. Fortunately, we have an increasing number of groups to join and many events to attend; unfortunately, not everyone likes to mingle.

This is the case of a lady I met a few months back. Recently operated and in the process of mourning, she progressively felt that her time on this planet was done. She had decided to “wait it out”, only leaving her home to feed the street cats. It was truly heart-breaking to watch: a once vibrant human being now incapable of coping with a routine that she considered wasn’t worth the living. I’m only sharing this because from being an apparent “lost cause” she’s now gallivanting around in India!

As it turns out, she longed to revisit India having had the time of her life there forty years ago. Although she had the money to make the trip she couldn’t face the trauma of change; her life had become so simplistic that anything outside the little world she had created was too daunting. Happily, thanks to the right encouragement she challenged herself and one step at a time made the bookings and arrangements, not just to travel, but to break an unhealthy routine so she can continue living.


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Written by

Nicole King

One of Marbella's most glamorous residents, Nicole King offers a taste of the best of what's going on in the Costa del Sol.

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