Every Day Starts As A Blank Canvas. Routine Is A template.

Disclaimer: This is a brief insight into my world and in no way reflects the views of 99.9% of the population. That said, it still equates to somewhere close to 7.6 million, based on the current world population. Still, quite scary to think of that many people sharing my view that every day starts as a blank canvas but it serves you to have a routine as a template.

Like I said, this is all based on how I view the world in which I live and the opinions shared are solely mine and should not be taken as 'The be all and end all' It's only a 'snapshot' after all.

Am I flawed ? Most definitely. Do I get annoyed, angry, sad, depressed ? Sometimes, but not for very long, in fact, in most cases the length of time I spend in any of those states would be hard to measure, as it is so fleeting.

The above doesn't mean I walk round with little red hearts popping above my head and an inane grin on my face, well, not the hearts anyway. It does mean that I have managed, over

time, to realise that my 'state' is a choice. I choose to be happy. I wasn't always like this and it has taken quite a bit of 'learning.' There are a gazillion and one pieces of literature, videos and audio material out there that give us the tools to be able to live life on our terms, so I won't try to reproduce them here. There's no 'one' secret to it all. Now though, I would say, emphatically, it is down to 'choice'. My choice, your choice

Let's move on. Most of my organising goes on in my head, not the best method but it works for me. I tend not to have room in there for the more mundane. If it's important to someone else, they'll remind me, hopefully.

Routine works for me but not to the point where it rules my life. Routine can help to formulate habits and not all habits are bad ones, though our default thought process is that they are. I prefer them to work for me, rather than against me.

After I've done my morning chores (Dog walking, ironing and sorting out washing) I will fire up 'Ole Faithful' and attend to all matters 'internetty'.(In case you're interested, my PC is a Packard Bell OneTwo M3700, a steam-powered Dual-core all-in-one touchscreen desktop. I bought it 'broken' at a cost of £40 second-hand a few years ago.)

Every morning (Which starts at 5.30am, just so you know) as far as WA is concerned, it is a straightforward ritual.

• 'Follow' the eight 'new' members that appear under my 'Profile picture' on my profile page. I'll 'hover' over their picture so I can read a portion of their 'Bio' if they have one. If it piques my interest, then I'll click on it and read the rest. Either way, I'll leave a greeting before 'following.' It would be rude not to.

• 'Follow' the first, three, new Premium members, that appear as I scroll down the 'Dashboard' I use the same procedure as above.

• Then a quick trip to Site Comments in the hope of leaving two. Sometimes I will leave more if it's possible but 'two' keeps me 'certified' At $0.50 per approved comment, it will pay for next years annual membership. This is my own 'take' on Site Comments for your pleasure:https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/twack/blog/site-comments-are...

• Next it's off to my email inbox to check through any notifications I might have had. If you click on your profile picture and then on 'Account Settings' you will be able to scroll down to 'Email Notification Settings' and the click 'edit'. This will enable you to select which notifications you would like to receive.

• Respond to any comments that may have been left on any of my posts. I try to do this in chronological order. Why ? Well, because sometimes I might not be able to respond to everyone all at the same sitting, so it seems right to respond to those who have commented the longest time ago, first. Just being mindful of others.

The sad truth is that with the best will in the world, it is not possible to read every new post. If we/I did, then the day would soon be over without having chance to actually getting round to any of our own 'work.' Don't feel bad about it, we're all in the same boat.

If I manage to do all of the above in 'one hit' then my day has started in the best possible way.

Depending on my mood, will dictate whether I work on one of my sites or look to creating a post for here. Neither should ever feel like a chore, in my mind. If it does then that will reflect in your work, again, that's just me.

So that's the 'routine' that I try to stick to, each day. I carry no baggage from the previous day. My canvas is blank. The picture I paint is entirely up to me. Occasionally someone or something will decide they'd like to collaborate and that's fine with me, life is unpredictable and if you're too rigid in your stance then you'll break. Be like a Willow tree and bend in the wind.

As an example of life 'playing' with us sometimes, the other morning I was 'mid-routine' and had gone into the kitchen to make some toast (sometimes cereal just isn't enough) As I'm stood waiting for it to 'pop' I can hear the washing machine just starting it's 'waste' cycle prior to spinning. I can hear the water being evacuated from the machine but it didn't quite sound as it normally does. I waited another thirty seconds and went over to investigate. The water was no longer following the correct route, instead it was going all over the floor. One of the pipes had decided to go on safari.

So, emergency procedures ensued. Machine off, mop and bucket out, mop up water, freezer moved, washing machine moved. Find exact location of leak, dismantle pipes, reassemble after cleaning, put back together, turn on washer to check, still leaking, dismantle pipes, replace rubber seal, reassemble, turn on washer, no leaks, put machine back, put freezer back after vacuuming all around, turn washing machine back on, retrieve cold toast and continue with breakfast.

The day continued as if nothing untoward had happened, in fact, something did occur later, I'll share at a later date, too many words already. It was a good thing though, very good.

I started this two days ago and now I'm off to fit coil springs to the Land Rover, deep joy.

Enjoy the rest of your day. Be the master of your life, not a slave to it.