Something stinks. Can you smell it? Maybe it is time to change. You think? I wake up everyday shower, groom, and put on (for the most part) clean clothes. So, why the smell? What keeps stinking up my surroundings? What more can I change? This confusion follows me throughout my day.

I lace up my running shoes and go outside. Could that funk be my running sneakers? I run my usual route. Follow the routine while I run. I think about what I have accomplished, what I am working on, and my goals. Man that funk does not go away. I finish my regular run at a usual pace, shower, put on fresh clothes and begin errands. Ugh, still that same funky smell.

Okay, new environment for the day shopping for groceries. The aisles are clean, the produce section is vibrant, the freezer section is cold. As I go about the large space picking out my rations, the smell creeps up again. As I pick my weekly fruits and veggies the funk grows. Something must be wrong with my nose. I finish shopping and head to a quick lunch at my favorite bistro, there it is again. This ever growing stench.

During lunch my phone vibrates with a text message notification, interrupting my lunch. “Hey Eric pool party this weekend, come keep me company,” reads the text. I reply with a confirmation and begin to plan my days to accommodate the change. Then, I realize that funk begins to recede. 

My week continued and I had to alter my schedule. Run errands on days I usually relaxed, and cleaned on a day I prepared for work. My days were different. I woke up daily refreshed ready for the new challenges. The funk was not following me. I realized I had fallen into a routine.

The day of the pool party came, and I showed up wearing my usual boardshorts. I get snatched away and get asked to model a new swimsuit line and am handed this tiny idea of swim shorts. In my head I was mortified. Put myself in front of a crowd wearing something resembling a slingshot, and strutting my stuff. This is way out of what my routine. I thought about it and revelled in the idea that I was doing something different. I had reinvigorated my life. I broke routine. Since that week, I began living in a way that even though I practice similar actions daily (exercise, work, clean, etc.). I make it a goal that I approach the day different to avoid the funk.

Practice breaking habits. Step outside the comfort zone. Catch phrases that actually mean something. Something as simple as changing what you eat in one meal is a step in trying new things. Try it, you never know what discoveries are waiting to be uncovered.