All About You FRIDAY – Change Change Change

If you’ve ever seen Menopause the Musical, you will now have an ear worm as the hit song from the show, Change Change Change, will be stuck in your head. It randomly popped into mine throughout the week. At one point, I was working on a patient in the clinic and I just blurted out, “Carol retired. This is our student’s last week. And the time sprung forward. I can’t take any more change!” People laughed. But I was only half kidding.

“This is why you can never retire,” I said to my patient who is a psychologist as I rubbed her butt (actually, I was performing an inhibitory muscle spindle massage to the piriformis but that doesn’t read quite as well).

“Do we need a group therapy session?” she asked jokingly. I laughed but inside I thought, perhaps.

I am a creature of habit. I eat a two-egg omelet with a side of tomatoes and semolina toast with honey on the days I get to chew a breakfast. On days I don’t, I down a Kachava shake with a scoop of collagen and a tablespoon of MCT brain oil for my first meal. At lunch, I eat a salad with chicken topped with a little salt and pepper, olive oil and a little lemon and sip on a hot cup of Ryze mushroom coffee. I play a little guitar and sing at the top of my lungs before heading back into the office, because it’s a great time to do that without bothering anyone and it resets my brain for my busy afternoon.

I like odd numbers. I shave my legs after I wash my hair and body in the shower (the order never changes and you don’t have to picture that). And I always make the bed after I brush my teeth in the morning. I go to the gym on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And I eat dessert first on Fridays.

You get the picture. I like my routines. It makes my life doable. My mom used to have a refrigerator magnet that said “Variety is the spice of life. But monotony provides the groceries.” I remember for years wondering what that even meant. Now I know.

Change. Change. Change.

Life isn’t always a respecter of routines. Stuff happens. The older I get the more I realize I should just expect it. If I’m doing life right, maybe I should embrace it. And I’ll know I’ve become an expert at living when I learn to chase it. Routines are good but maybe life happens at the level of change.

On the Daily Discipline blog, the author wrote:

Studies show that short, novel experiences: a day trip, an unplanned hike or exploring a new street boost dopamine and reset mood. You don’t need a grand vacation. You need interruption. The brain thrives on small doses of novelty.

Routine keeps you alive.

Novelty makes you feel alive.

Change. Change. Change.

I’m writing this to convince myself. When one door closes another opens. Stop fighting the old and build on the new. We need interruption.

Another reason why I should learn to dance.

I get it. I really do. But I’m still having dessert first on Friday.

It’s been a long week. Don’t forget to celebrate. And I hear Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change has just started touring this year. We should go see it.

Until next time…