The Things We Do

I’ll admit right off the bat; I am a creature of habit. I have ingrained patterns I follow without as much as a thought. If I were an animal, this might be called instinct but as it is, it is just habitual patterns I have created for myself.

For instance, I walk around when I talk on the phone. Even if I happen to be working at the time, I get up from my desk and walk around. Somewhere along the way I decided that I was wasting time and being unproductive if I was on the phone so I started walking in order to be doing something worthwhile. Walking is healthy and I certainly could use more activity in my life. So I walk.

I follow the same path every time. I usually start by walking around the kitchen island, into the living room, down the hall to make a U-turn and back up the hall, around the couches in the middle of the room, past the kitchen going into my bedroom to make another U-turn, back into the kitchen area where I started in the first place. I walk the entire time I’m on the phone. It is not uncommon for me to get winded because of all the walking I do. I don’t measure the length of my calls in minutes; I measure by the stage of breathlessness I reach before I hang up.

I have a friend that gets after me and reminds me to sit down from time to time. My phone walk is not a gentle meandering; it’s walking a fast clip. It’s pointless though. Even if I do sit down I pop back up without even realizing it and start the trek all over again. It’s silly, it’s like my bottom refuses to sit on a chair or the couch as long as the phone is touching my ear. Pavlov’s dog has nothing on me!!!

This morning I called a friend in hopes she might remember a conversation we had previously; I had shared something about which I wanted to write. As we talked, I began my ritualistic jaunt. Somewhere along the way, I lost my coffee cup.

I have a favorite coffee cup I prefer to use every morning…..another habit I might point out. But, like my walking phone conversations, this habit was birthed out of what I considered a logical matter. I had hand surgery last year and this cup is a light weight china cup that is not too heavy for my hand. It has a leopard print all over it, so you would think it would be easy to spot. Not so! I continued the walk as I looked for it. I take the same path every time so I felt confident it would be along the usual route somewhere. After making several rounds, I started getting a bit frustrated. My cup was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t want any more coffee at this point; I just wanted to know what happened to my stinking cup!

I explained my dilemma to my friend and we verbally walked through my route as I looked once more. Then it occurred to me to check in the master bath on that leg of the journey. Lo and behold, there it was on the bathroom counter! I had stopped in on an earlier lap to see if I had something in my eye; consequently, leaving my coffee cup. I had deviated from my routine only slightly and disrupted my habitual pattern. Good heavens! That's sad. Wanting to settle my now stressed mind, I need a cup of my favorite British tea, which I drink out of a favorite china tea cup (Hmmm, see a pattern?) but it's not my normal tea time. Oh, dear, what have I become?

The things we do...........