I know I’m not the first by any means to declare that there should more hours in the day. In fact, I’m probably the last. But oh how I need those hours. Just a few more. Maybe three or four more. I need them desperately. You see, there is so much I want to do and need to do and not enough time to do them in. The only thing that gets accomplished on a day to day basis is driving to work, working and driving back home, followed by a rapid draining of energy and me lying on the couch, tired and listless, even before I get a chance to do just one thing I had marked on my mental to-do list. Before I know it, it’s 12:30 a.m., and just as my energy is starting to come back, I have to go to sleep so that I have enough strength to repeat this routine all over again.

I’m not a fan of routines. That’s probably the reason why I’m so passionate about journalism, a profession that is the antithesis to following the same mundane and redundant lines of life on a daily basis. This is also why I’m not as organized as I’d like to be, which is just a nice way of calling myself messy. Yes, this is why. This is why I promised myself as a teenager that I never want to be employed anywhere that reminds me of “Office Space,” this is why cubicles scare me and make me really uncomfortable, even though I’m in one all day, this is why I never wear the same thing to bed twice in a row. This is why you’ll hear the faint sound of crunching and find Henry eating at 11:30 p.m. at night. My disdain for routines obviously translates well and is probably horrible for dog training.

Routine, derived from French, means “usual course of action, beaten path” as defined by the “Online Etymology Dictionary” by Douglas Harper.

People love routines. Even if they don’t, they’re necessary to function in life, or so we’re told. Exercise routines, morning routines, routines for children, routine medical procedures, a comedian’s routine. They’re everywhere, and it’s been made pretty clear that without them you fail.

Think about the time you spent in school. All those years, while you might have learned something about history, science, music and English, were really meant to instill routines in you, so that you’re prepared for your potential career. The way you’re required to be in class at a certain time, the seating arrangements, the grades you receive, the bell ringing to let you know class is over. Sure, school might be about acquiring knowledge, but it’s also mostly about acquiring routines that are meant to prove useful later in life.

Anyway, I’m not sure where exactly I was going with this schpeel, other than to say that I’m tired of the routines in my life that are keeping me from doing things I’m passionate about. I’m tired of the wasted hours on the road and my inability to pursue projects that have been lingering in the back of my mind. I’m tired of being tired. I hate complaining about not having enough time. I wrote a quote here a while back by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. that went “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”

It’s so true. I shouldn’t say I don’t have enough time. If the aforementioned few aspired to greatness, I can too, with the same amount of time as they had. Then again, Mother Teresa, Hellen Keller or da Vinci never experienced the wrath of Los Angeles traffic in the mornings and evenings. That quote should be revised to “Don’t say you don’t have enough time, unless you spend more than two hours in traffic. In that case, I give you free reign to complain.”

Thanks H. Jackson Brown, Jr.