The Importance of Habit

“Habits are the invisible architecture

of everyday life.” – Gretchen Rubin

I came to an epiphany several days ago that I would love to share with all of you, mainly because I think you may agree that it completely exonerates me from all my current problems, inadequacies, and failures: The full-time RV Venturer life is to blame.

It is to blame for my weight gain and the fact that I can’t fit into any of my clothes.

It is to blame for my lack of a regular workout routine, which is something I was dedicated to for years and years and years.

It is to blame for the significant decrease in my reading and writing.

It is to blame for the lowering of my standards when it comes to housekeeping.

It is to blame for all this and surely much more.

See. There. It is not my fault that I jumped track and have not gotten back on. Blame rests squarely on the full-time RV life.

You may be thinking: Wow, Susan. You need to take responsibility for your own life. To which, I completely agree. But here is why I write all this. I have been living full-time in a motorcoach for over two years, and yet I AM JUST NOW REALIZING that this is when everything went to heck in a handbasket.

In reality, it is not the RV life’s fault, per se. I mean, I guess…I suppose…it is my fault if you want to be really specific. But because I didn’t realize that with full-time RV living, my previous good habits now require a different type of effort and commitment than they required when I was a stick and brick dweller, I wasn’t tackling my issues properly.

I am a creature of habit. I work best and most fully and most happily, when my day is supported by routine.

Well, full-time RV’ing isn’t very conducive to routine, right? So no wonder I am a mess! And now that I have realized why I am a mess, I think there is hope!

I am sure I will write more about this in the future. I would like to share what I am doing to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. But I am really excited that I have pin-pointed the key problem: I work best within structure; so I just need to figure out how to build that structure again given the realities of RV life. Any ideas you have, and sharing what works for you, will be extremely appreciated!