Predictability
The world is full of chaos. No matter what you read or watch these days, chaos is there. It’s in the words so many people use, it’s in their actions, their behaviours.
Where there’s chaos there is unpredictability, and where there is unpredictability, we lose any sense of control. And, when we lose a sense of control our stress levels ratchet up and we all know what that can do to us. So, how do we, in our normal, ordinary world, in our home, in our interactions with others, in what we choose to do, or not do, how do we attempt to mitigate the anxiety that chaos brings?
I’m not putting on my psychotherapist hat here! It’s just that when I reread Mollie’s thoughts about Joe and how he, and she, liked predictability, it made me think about how we all, well most of us, would prefer a predictable life. And then I thought about how I deal with the chaos that surrounds us constantly and wondered how you do.
Some of the things I do are:
I get up every morning at 0530, make myself a herbal tea, put my workout gear on, then have a prayer time before doing Pilates. After that I feed the chooks and go for a walk. When I walk, I take the same route pretty well most of the time! I’ve tried taking a left turn instead of a right, or going straight ahead instead of turning off to go around the lake, but it just doesn't feel right :). So, perhaps that’s my way of building predictability into my world - or maybe I’m just boring!!
Oh, and I get a bit cranky when this routine is thrown out!!
I’m interested to hear what you think - is your life predictable?
From Running Home (out soon)
Mollie watched Joe for a few minutes as he crossed the street
and headed off on his usual route for his afternoon walk. He liked
predictability, he said, when she tried to get him to walk a different
way. Mollie shook her head. She pushed the gate closed, leaning on
it briefly, willing the rising tension away. She had liked predictability too.
You can preorder Running Home. Just go to the website, karenmace.com and follow the links.