Break In The Routine

Today, as I made my way to work, not from a school bus stop, but just from home, not having seen children off to school, but having seen them sleep in on their day off, I found myself completely and utterly disoriented. Not only had I not needed to adhere to my strict wake-up time (since I didn't need to wake anyone else), I didn't have to make any lunches but my own, and I didn't need to make sure any sets of hats and scarves and gloves made it out the door (except those on my own body).
 
Sounds great, right? More sleep, no structure, less responsibility--who wouldn't want that?  

I guess I wouldn't. This morning, I found myself--well-rested, structure-free, and responsibility-free--wondering how I possibly could have made it through my months of unemployment without losing my mind. On those days, while I might have had a morning routine, I had no real rest of the day routine. How did I survive without "marching orders"? Though I might have been well-rested from taking afternoon naps, could I ever quite tell where I was and how I fit in?
 
While we may look for excitement and change in our lives, it is often our routine that supports us.  Routine helps us keep track of time and measure distance. It gives us a place to go, and a schedule for going. And when there is a break in our routine, all those things--support, measurement, schedule--are gone. It's a little challenging.
 
In the end, I got to work, and once there, I fell back into the normalcy of my day. It was just a temporary break in the routine, and we generally survive those.
 
And when the normal schedule returns tomorrow, I will probably be craving a break in the routine all over again.