creature of habit

Creature of habit - someone one who wants to do the same things in the same way.

There's a comfort zone, a predictability in having routines. Routines create structure and bring order to a day. They bring calm and reduce anxiety. But every once in a while the routine gets shaken up.

There's a near by road that's closed for a few months. It's getting new sidewalks, new curbs, a total repaving. Right now the east bound lane is open, westbound is closed to traffic. This is the road that I take to go to the chiropractor, to go to Costco, to go wherever when I need to go west. And this is the road that I take when coming home from all those places. Even though the westbound lane has been closed for a month and who do you think is still trying to take that way home? I shake my head as soon as I make the turn to go the usual way, drive past the construction, through a neighborhood that takes me on a trip down Memory Lane. My first viola teacher, Mrs. Garber, lived in this neighborhood, my sister's high school sweetheart and now husband of 40 years lived in in this area, high school friends and high school parties, Marinole swimming pool, my kids had friends who lived here. This little change of routine has been a nice reminder that there are always different ways to do things, new things to see, and in this case it's brought back some good memories.