I don’t know about you but recently I have been trying to make the most of the end of summer. With October and the beginning of school looming, it’s only fair that I’m holding on to the end of summer by doing the things I want and spending time with the people I love. However, with this comes lack of routine.

I have always been the type of person to have a strict routine, morning and night. Spontaneity used to be something I avoided. I am used to being strict with myself and rejecting the idea of any in-the-spur-moment ideas or events. This made my first year of university really challenging.

This summer I have switched sides. Every day has been something new, something different, something exciting. I have not followed my usual routine for more than five days at a time – this only happened once. At the start of summer, this was so hard for me. Now, I don’t want it to end.

As I said, in the past I hated the idea of straying from my routine of morning walks, workouts, coffee then breakfast, productivity and school work, early nights and reading in bed. Now I have learned that enjoying yourself and living the life you have always wanted and have dreamt of since you turned twelve comes at a cost. This cost is microscopic!

I cannot believe I used to hate slow mornings , meaning I’d skip the gym and “Fall out of routine”. Now I breathe them. I suppose that comes up with having a boyfriend – and this is something that I have had to adapt to. I love these slower mornings and days where productivity is down to 0.01%. It means I am simply enjoying the here and now, which is something I cannot love more.

As much as I love this slower lifestyle, recently I have been craving routine: some earlier mornings, healthier meals and more movement in my day. For the first time in AGES, this is not because I feel “guilty” for doing nothing and eating more takeaway pizzas as a late night snack in a week than I have my entire life (an ED scary for me), but rather because I genuinely do love that other side of me and my love of routine. I have learnt that routine is not the be all and end all. I love the excitement and thrill I get of not knowing where the day will take me. Spontaneity has really grown on me this summer and I am so thankful for that.

The next time you feel guilty for doing not achieving as much as you wanted to over the last week, or you’ve not been going to the gym, and routine has been thrown out the window, ask yourself have you enjoyed it? I know I have thoroughly enjoyed these last four months and look forward to what the next few months bring 🙂