Mix It Up

Today I am grateful for my job and the people I work with. I am also grateful for a phone conversation with my friend Sheila.

It's good to mix up our routines from time to time. I am a creature of habit, but that can also lead to tunnel vision at the least and complacency at the worst.  We take a certain route all the time, park in the same area at the grocery store, follow a recipe in exact order.

Something as simple as parking in a different spot in the grocery store parking lot yesterday and going at my shopping from the opposite direction than I usually do was enough to freshen up an errand I do pretty regularly.

I packed the cart differently and went down aisles from a different direction than usual. I appreciated how quickly I could move through my list. I spent the most time in the produce area--bagging up several items takes longer than grabbing something off of a shelf.

I usually start in the produce area. Yesterday, I finished there. It seemed to make the whole trip go faster. In the end, I appreciated that I have this store close by and that I am familiar with what to find where, regardless of how I approach it.

Little changes and shifts in our regular routines can help us appreciate both the usual and the variety available. Fresh perspectives and new angles are made possible with gratitude practice, just like they are made possible by a different parking spot.

Give it a try. Mix it up today. See what you notice.