Little Anchors of Certainty

I'm a happy camper and proud of myself for going on the hike. I pushed hard and finished in record time (for me) with about 35 minutes to spare. I also checked about bathrooms before I left, wondering if they opened earlier than the ranger station. Bingo! Drove with no worries about a restroom. Solved a problem. Qualified for bigger hikes. Enjoyed the cool, sunny morning outside. All around winner of a morning.

Came home and started some volunteer work and was suddenly so sleepy. I'm not a nap person unless extenuating circumstances (sick, jet lag, on-call) because naps leave me groggy no matter the length. But I decided to set a timer and close my eyes for 30 minutes. Don't you know I fell lightly asleep for the last 15 minutes or so and woke up feeling rested. Huh. Maybe I'm entering a nap phase in life.

We went out to dinner with friends in our new town. These friends LOVE early dinners too -- 4:30 reservations :) We walked from the new house -- it's so easy. After dinner, we went for coffee and dessert at a little French cafe that sits up on the second story of a restaurant. Very quiet, people watching, lovely. Home by 8 o'clock after a walk back to the new house and a drive home to the old house.

Persian cuisine. Salmon
and crunchy rice.

I listened to a podcast -- discussion about people who live lives with a lot of uncertainty or risk. Maybe start a business, write a book, create something. He said those people will often anchor themselves with little bits of certainty throughout the day. Eat the same thing for breakfast. Run the same route. Routines and environments that anchor them so they can handle the uncertainty in other areas. This also applies to people who are especially uncertainty adverse. 

Hello, that's me and that explains a lot about my routines and environment and why they feel so important -- and hard to lose during an uncertain time. Knowing this means I can look for some other ways to anchor during this time when I'm losing my house comfort and environment familiarity. 

I do this on vacations too. The first day in a new place is unsettling to me no matter how much fun I'm having. I immediately look for something to repeat -- a coffee shop, a run route, a little morning routine and feel much more settled the second day. I know that I do this, but never understood why. It's fascinating and might be quite helpful in the future. 

This kind of behavior is often talked about in terms of helping decision fatigue which can be true, but didn't apply to me. Such an interesting insight from the podcast. Little anchors of certainty.

Hope you have a good day. Later gators.