i use level soap

Every morning I wash my face. It's something that I always do. I usually use Level soap, but no matter where I am, I always wash my face. It makes me feel clean, yeah definitely, but it makes me feel calm because I start the day of like I do every other day. It keeps me in a line, in rhythm, in routine.

My whole life is a routine. I just posted on my morning motions. That is exactly what I do every morning. It almost never differs. Then I go to school, come home, watch some ESPN, eat dinner, do some homework and then go to bed. It's my routine.

Sometimes I go to bed, crawl under the covers, and have a sense of emptiness. Almost like my day was unfulfilled. Think about it, I didn't do anything to better myself or my life. I just went through the motions of my day. I do it five times a week, for 9 months out of the year. It's my routine.

This summer, I had no routine. No restrictions, no plans, no obligations. I went with life. I went with every opportunity I got. I made the most of what it was I was doing right then. I was always doing something new. It was almost like I was outside of my comfort zone...constantly. I had more experiences in those short three months then in my high school career combined. I lived intentionally. I never gave way to a routine.

If you constantly surround yourself with the same thing every day, your sense become dull. Only new experiences can sharpen your senses and let you view the world and God's creation in new ways.

God is always talking. I believe that. I think that as humans we fail to always listen. I think that our everyday routine allows us to just go through the motions of the day, not paying attention to what God is trying to say. Our senses become dull, not aware, we stop living with intention. It becomes a charade.

Are routines bad? No. Not entirely. They can give us a sense of accomplishment and comfort. They allow us to enjoy the people and the places we are at now, everyday. We never have to detach that. We never have to leave to go do something new. That allows deeper relationships and a huge understanding of your current life. When your always on the move, always experiencing new things, you can't go very deep. You always have to break connections, losing that ability.

I think that the solution is to try to find how to have new experiences, sharpen your senses and listen to God, in a routine of your life. I don't know how to do that really. I'm still trying to figure that out. I don't think that simply giving a good helping of prayer and bible reading into everyday will help, because the way I pray, what I pray about and the way I look at the bible, won't change. I will run into the same problem. My senses will become dull.

The way we look at God and the world and our perspectives need to change. Our world changes everyday and our faith needs to follow that. If we catch ourselves in a rut, in a routine, our faith and views won't change.

I don't know. I'm just trying to figure it out. I didn't go very deep because, I haven't thought about it very deep. Maybe you can continue the conversation and go farther.

If you read this far then you should go now to my good friends blog. He just started it and needs a little encouragement. I've read some of his stuff and its great. The link is to the left as Andy Telenko.