Ritual

 "There is no formula. We live and we are loved and we are gone."

Each Saturday morning, Peanut and I load up Mo (and all the things) and we head out.

First, we pick up breakfast. Donuts for her, chicken biscuit for me and Mo to share.

Then, we pick a new park. Sometimes a place we've never been. Sometimes a place we haven't been in a bit. Never where we were last week.

We start our park day with a walk.

We put one foot in front of the other and we walk the business of the week, the highs, the lows. We look for what nature has to offer us. We chase our dog who is still awful on a leash. We laugh.

As we began a new year not too long ago, and I started to examine my habits and routines, and read about how habits make your life - I started making small changes.

I am HUGE on routines.

I love a good routine. I begin each day with the same rhythm. Peanut and I began every day with a morning basket - school day or not. In her basket is her pleasure reading book, her bible and her journal.

Routine.

A recent read challenged me to elevate my routines into RITUALS.

Rituals are routines that have meaning.

Friday night pizza night is a routine. Eating pizza while gathered around the kitchen table knee deep in a competitive game of UNO with those you love - that's a ritual.

Pouring a cup of hot coffee/tea first thing in the morning is a routine. Holding that hot cup and inhaling the new mercies of the day in prayer, that's a ritual.

Heading to the park on a Saturday morning is a routine. Choosing to be screen free, putting one foot in front of the other while we walk out our highs and lows, that's our ritual.

A routine is something that is a habitual part of your day.

A ritual is something that is a habitual part of a life.

As I've been putting all my decisions through the lens of "Do I hold a value that informs this decision?", I have also been challenging myself to consider if my routines hold meaning.

Are they merely routines or are they rituals?

Mama Warriors, take a moment this week and see if you can elevate one of your routines to a ritual.

Can you be still with that warm beverage for a few minutes and center yourself?

Can you turn off the TV and drag out a board game for family dinner?

Can you not just put the phone down but turn if off for a set hour each day creating a ritual of being fully present?