So, here I am spending the last two days of 2023 down with a fever. I’ve been wanting to take some time to reflect on the year, but if I wasn’t sick I probably wouldn’t made time for this. Funny how it takes falling sick to make me pause and think. I guess it’s not all bad then.
I think we can all agree that consistency and spontaneity both have their merits. Consistency helps you build good habits and break bad ones, while spontaneity makes life that much more interesting. This year has definitely been more spontaneous than consistent for me. It’s spontaneity that led me to sign up for a half marathon, even though I hardly ever run. It’s what made me decide to go for two solo trips abroad, and many more non-solo trips. It’s the catalyst of many good memories in 2023.
Unfortunately, on the other hand, consistency has taken a huge hit this year. I struggled with being consistent with any of my routines, and I don’t think I’ve managed to build a single good habit over the past year. I wanted to make reading a daily habit. I wanted to exercise and climb more regularly. I wanted to be an early riser. And I succeeded at none of these things.
In my frustration, I started to wonder if being consistent and spontaneous at the same time was even possible. Wouldn’t spontaneity disrupt consistency, and consistency prevent spontaneity? In that regard, aren’t they mutually exclusive?
Well, not exactly. I think they are only mutually exclusive if taken to the extreme. If you are always spontaneous (or consistently spontaneous, but let’s not go there lol), then there’s no room for consistency, and vice versa.
Plus, taking either option to the extreme is not the life that I have envisioned either. Earlier, I wrote that consistency and spontaneity both have their merits and to me, the ideal life would have a good balance between the two. Now that sounds great and all, but what does that look like?
To be honest, I don’t know. I didn’t manage to figure it out this year, but if I were to hazard a guess, I think it would be something like this:
Consistency for the sake of consistency misses the point, because the goal isn’t consistency, it’s building good habits. Spontaneity is important, necessary even. And if it gets in the way of consistency occasionally, that’s okay. Missing a day or two is fine, as long as I’m still able to maintain and build good habits.
Is it a little idealistic? Perhaps. Is it possible? I sure hope so. I do want to try and find this balance in 2024 because, to me, that’s what “living my best life” looks like. Wish me luck!
lowercased C 