Change your schedule and change your life

Being a creature of habit, I love having a set schedule because it keeps me productive and happy. That being said, it’s good to mix things up once in a while.

I’m a morning person and I especially love to exercise in the morning. If I had my way, Mr. Ken and would be out kayaking at 6 am. That won’t happen with dear Mr. Ken though even if I bribed him with donuts. We usually get out on the water by 10 am.

Every morning this week was busy, but we still wanted to get our kayaking in, especially since the weather was sunny and cool. So Wednesday afternoon we set out kayaking. It’s funny, I wasn’t really looking forward to the kayaking; I’m thinking, “I’ll be tired; I’ll be hungry; It will be too hot.” And the list went on. Well we went and had a glorious time. Once again kayaking has taught me some valuable lessons about life and work.

Here’s what I learned from mixing up my schedule:

* Get used to feeling uncomfortable. You never know what will happen next. After the first few minutes out on the water, I relaxed and soaked in the scenery. The afternoon light is so different than the morning light; it almost seemed as though we were on a different part of the river.

* Just do it! Sometimes you need to just plunge ahead and do something. Stop overthinking things. I was spending way too much time thinking about the afternoon kayak.

* Keep the big picture in mind. Why are you doing something? The momentary discomfort or annoyance will quickly fade if you consciously work towards your goal. I want to get out kayaking as much as possible this season and going in the afternoon is one way to do it.

* Embrace the new perspective. Since the river felt new with the different light, I had lots of interesting thoughts going through my brain. Needless to say, this blog post was mentally composed while I was out on the water.

* Take a step and the ramifications will be felt for days. The next day, I was at a marketing conference in Boston. I love going to these conferences. I do approach them with some trepidation since I don’t like making small talk with complete strangers. This time, I was energized and looking forward to meeting new people.

So what about you? Have you made a change in your routine and had a good experience?

Calendar picture is courtesy of Style at Home.

Happy faces are courtesy of Children’s Ministry Resource Co..