Home for a Lifetime

Looking back at our blog, we’ve had an interesting year: Tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and then a freak pre-Halloween snow storm that resulted in long term black outs.

I was certainly more prepared for the snowpocalypse than the last few curve balls thrown at us by Mother Nature. My husband and I were lucky enough to have family we could stay with. We went on a mini vacation until things started to improve near our house. Then we headed back so my husband could go to work as his office had power. We came back even though the Dynamic Living office and our apartment were still without power. I figured I’d be fine. And I was…. Sort of.

Every now and then I’d catch myself thinking “oh I’ll just plug that in…” or “I can turn that on…” Except that plugging things in or turning things on wasn’t going to do much. As one friend put it: I’d make a crummy pioneer. If the power had stayed out longer I would have eventually gotten used to it. I kept myself busy and found ways to adapt to not having power. Looking back I realize the whole experience is very similar to what happens when you have an injury or an illness that heaves your daily routine right out the window.

At first, we were shocked. We didn’t know what to do, so we went looking for help. We had to leave the comfort of our own home so that we could just have the basics that we needed to survive. We also needed help from family and friends. We came home once we were feeling a little more secure about what we needed to do. After we got home, I went through the process of adapting our apartment for the current situation and made sure we had enough gadgets to supplement those adaptations.

My husband and I were able to get back to normal fairly quickly, but not everyone got power back in a timely manner. While we were putting things back they way they were, many people in our area were looking at adaptations that could last a longer.

The whole experience was a reminder for me that I take many things for granted. For example, the ability to walk around my apartment safely after the sun sets is something I came to appreciate in those days. So now that we’re back to “normal” I’ve left many of those adaptations as they were. If I take them down, I’ll have to start over the NEXT time the power goes out. Being prepared for it will make the already stressful situation a little easier to cope with.

There have been many occasions where thinking ‘outside the box’ has produced creative results. What does that mean? It means that you allow yourself the luxury of thinking a little (or a lot) differently so that the results are not the same as they always are. This kind of thinking does not have to be radical or wild (although the creative gurus will tell you that the wilder the idea, the better). Sometime minor variations can bring great results.

Scientists know this. Their experiments will include many underlying ‘ingredients’, so when something is changed, it will be one variant that can be tracked as an experiment. Too many changed muddy the waters and won’t tell the scientist what actually worked.

Data Marketers know this. When they perform a/b tests, they’re changing one thing about an ad so they can track the results. Just like the scientists, there will be many experiments, so there are many a/b tests all searching for the best results.

People who bake know that a poor tasting product is not necessarily the end of the recipe. They adapt the recipe, trying different ingredients until it rises properly, has the right consistency or tastes better. Even boxed mixes may need a little tweaking. We’ve heard complaints about gluten free mixes being blah. Although some are very good, some taste very bland out of the box. They may need the addition of some of your favorite flavorings to bring them to life. With a recent gluten free bread making experiment, I tried one batch plain, and then added ingredients to 2 other batches. Using the mix as a starting point made bread making possible and so much easier! Although the plain mix was kind of meek, the other two breads showed great promise. I learned something with every experiment (making good notes so I’ll remember!) and will continue to improve the boxed mix with my own tweaks.

How else can we use this in our daily lives? When we have to do something that is physically difficult, try different approaches until you find one that works. Are there other ways to use your body? Are there levers, handles, ties, etc that would make it easier? When something is mentally challenging, break it down into smaller steps, adapting the problem until you can find a solution. Start from a point you know is true, but review your thought process to be sure that something illogical didn’t slip in (it’s so easy to do!).

Consider yourself too uncreative? Nope, you just need some practice and the right to mess up now and then.

Have you tried a little ‘out of the box thinking’ today?

I love my daily routines. So much that I might be a little TOO attached to them. If I don’t get my cup of coffee, or a chance to go through a certain set of reports when I get to work, I feel frazzled. Well at least until I find time to complete the routine. And once order has been returned to my universe, I can continue with the rest of my day.

And a sudden change, no matter how small, can really throw someone like me for a loop. Change can cause stress for anyone, but I think creatures of habit like me have an especially hard time dealing with changes. It’s even worse when the change affects your health. The change may be infinitely better for you and it may even make you feel better, but it lacks the comfort of the “same old same old”.

So from one stubborn routine follower to another, here is a list of ways that have helped me cope with change:

• Baby Steps: Not all changes need to happen immediately. Depending on your medical situation there may be ways to work something into (or out of) your routine slowly.
• Find Substitutions: Sometimes the key is a new thing that FEELS like an old habit. Dieters have been using this trick forever, by finding recipes for food that tastes just as good as their fatty originals. Some research, a little trial and error, may help you find a way to keep things the way they are, while still being completely different.
• Make lists: Checklists are often good at helping me introduce new steps to my daily routines. If I follow the checklist all the time, even if I don’t really NEED to, the new step starts to feel like it’s always been part of the plan. For instance, if you’re forgetting to take a new pill with all your others, get a pill box and have your medication set up a whole week at a time. Then you don’t have to remember to open that extra pill bottle as you’re grabbing your medication and running out the door.
• Leave yourself notes: I leave myself large easy to see notes when I keep “forgetting” to do something I don’t really want to do. The larger and more annoying the note is the better, because you don’t want to make “ignore the note on the front door” part of your routine.
• Use a reminders or alarm: As someone who works on a computer all day, I’ve found that creating task lists with pop up reminders grab my attention and get me to do things I’ve been putting off forever. I make sure the reminder pops up at time I know will be more convenient so I will be less likely to hit snooze.

Maybe one or more of these coping strategies will work for you. Change is rarely something we can avoid, but at least sometimes we can make it more bearable.