I do not think routine is a problem

Maybe religiously following a growth routine isn’t bad after all

Maybe religiously following a growth routine isn’t bad after all.

Maybe it is better to have a supposed ‘religious’ growth routine than to have none at all. Also, at this time, I no longer think that a growth system where anything goes will produce the desired results.

I do not think routine is the problem.

I think losing the routine's purpose is the problem. It becomes mere repetitive tasks when we no longer do them intentionally but for the sake of doing them.

And that’s one of my fears: doing things for the sake of it.

So how do I maintain consciousness in my routines and make sure I always do what I do from a place of intentionality? ALWAYS? I don’t like to do things just because they should be done or because that’s what we all should be doing. I like to know WHY I should do the things I do. I’d rather not do anything than do something without understanding the WHY.

I believe that’s a true growth process. It doesn’t make sense to me if I don’t have an understanding of the WHY of what I’m doing. That’s the same way some religious routines don’t make sense to me.

Then something called “God’s word,” written in a book called the Bible, comes to tell us to do this and that because of this and that.

Now there is something called belief. We all submit to the Bible because we believe it, not because at first we even understood all the WHYs. Maybe we didn’t understand at first, but we believed all the same, and we began following the book.

Now this is where our trouble begins. We heard what the book said, and it went to our heads, just the same way we heard that 2+2 is 4 and it went to our heads. Does anyone ask WHY 2+2 has to be 4?

Oh well, we also heard a lot of things that we simply believed, not because we understood them. But while the effects of the educational information we heard and head-believed may not have much impact on our well-being, the same cannot be said about the information we heard about our life, emotions, needs, etc. These things have a greater effect on our well-being than the outcome of a mathematical equation.

So when we heard that someone called “God” loved us and wanted to take care of us and be with us and save us. Our head received this information, but we didn’t really understand what they meant, and because these things (love, peace, needs, emotions, etc.) have a greater impact on our lives here on earth, we begin to suffer when we don’t get or receive what we have been promised.

And from this point, the search for meaning and peace and joy begins …

If what we have been told is not forthcoming, we must find them somehow, somewhere, anywhere. And for those who still somehow trust in this God, we begin to look for understanding more in the book. We begin to listen to those who say they have found answers. And it is often a long and difficult journey. And I have no idea WHY it should be hard.

It is this continuous learning for the purpose of understanding that forms our routine. Seeing how much ground is left to cover and how we want to be “free” so quickly, we cannot but follow a religious routine.

It’s a long journey.

Maybe religiously following a growth routine isn’t bad after all. Maybe it is better to have a supposed religious growth routine than to have none at all. Also, at this time, I no longer think that a growth system where anything goes will produce the desired results.

So, as you keep at it. Don’t lose sight of the purpose of your routines.

If you find out that you no longer seek understanding but the emotions and shouts and amens and reels of the moment, then you should revisit the purpose.

Maybe you didn’t have a purpose initially. Then you haven’t begun your journey yet. Yours will come. Don’t push it.

The summary of my long talk is that routines are not bad; only be sure that you don’t lose sight of the purpose. And if you don’t have a purpose for doing what you’re doing....

I don’t know what to say to you.