Is Routine Important to your MS?

It’s been a lot of years since the Boatswain’s Mate of the Watch came to my bunk at 3:00am every morning to roust me so that I could shower and make my way to the bridge in order to stand my Navigator’s Watch. The meticulous clockwork by which a ship at sea operates dates back to the great wooden fighting ships of lore and continues on today. There is something to be said for being formed at sea – one knows exactly what is to be expected at exactly what time of the day, week or month. I believe that such routine has helped me in my life after the US Coast Guard and, maybe even a little bit with my life with multiple sclerosis. Sometimes this idea of routine saves me from embarrassment. I must, for example, put deodorant, face lotion and hair stuff on (in that order) as soon as I towel myself dry after a shower. If I miss that two minute window, I’ll go the entire day smelly, dry-skinned and with my hair standing on end. If it doesn’t happen in the allotted time, my brain just seems to forget the need; that or it only has capacity anymore to think about such things for fleeting moments. My follow-on career to navigating ships – one in the culinary field – was steeped in tradition and routine as well. I would come into a (literal and proverbial) clean kitchen, work like crazy to meet people’s needs and then leave an equally clean space. Prep lists, mis en place, menu meetings… things got done when the needed to be done. Now I find that I need routine in...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: MS balance MS lifestyle MS sleep multiple sclerosis routine Source Type: blogs