I'm a spiritual and religious person - that brings a bunch of ritual with it. On the daily: I pray individually. Yes... good old fashioned man talking to the sky, believing someone is listening. It's my time to reflect and have a serious gratitude session. I pray with my wife. I pray with my family. I make the bed - not because I like a neatly made bed - but for the reason listed above "any actions or events that have symbolic meaning beyond their instrumental value". Making my bed is the first success of the day and sets me on a course of success for the rest of it. I brush and floss. I know.... it's probably NOT more important than it's instrumental value... but it IS RIDICULOUSLY IMPORTANT and I regret not doing it sooner. I have spent TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars on my family's mouths.... do your future self a favor. FLOSS. On the weekly: I date my wife. We go out on a date at least once a week. It's important for the long term stability of our relationship and marriage. It's definitely meaningful beyond the instrumental value. I can't recommend it highly enough. Family Time. Every Monday night (sometimes we move it) my wife and I and our kids get together as a family, sing songs, play instruments, talk about our week, read something inspiring, and just connect generally. I have various assignments from church that involve helping others. These assignments change often and morph slightly, but the core principle and objective remains the same: serve others. I attend a weekly service where religious rites are performed. Some weeks I am going through the motions. Some weeks I am really focused and it's a powerful time of reflection and re-dedication. On the regular: There are other service projects, church social events and religious rites that I participate in on a less than weekly, but more than annual, but not quite monthly or quarterly basis that are equally important and serve others. Not currently in the regiment (but looking for ways to incorporate or re-incorporate): Yoga - I used to do 20-30 minutes every night before bed. I miss that. Exercise - This is a no brainer. I should, but don't... and I have no explanation for it. There are some plans in the works... Read - I actually do read... but I need to read about five times as much as I do now.
This is cute! I do something similar with my girlfriend, since we're both so busy (me with a new job, her with one last year of college). Do you have a specific day you like to go on a date, or is it flexible as long as you do it once per week? We did the 'reserved time' approach for awhile. It was nice to have a day or an evening that I knew I would get to spend with her. We fell out of that habit for awhile, I should talk to her about starting that again! As a whole, I didn't realize you were so religious! That's cool, though :) I suppose your rituals are more actual rituals than mine! If you can floss to save money (and for your health), just try to apply the same mindset here! Maybe you could combine this with yoga and start a bedtime ritual of calisthenics? Or with audiobooks, if your goal in reading is to just consume the informationI date my wife. We go out on a date at least once a week. It's important for the long term stability of our relationship and marriage. It's definitely meaningful beyond the instrumental value. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Exercise - This is a no brainer. I should, but don't... and I have no explanation for it. There are some plans in the works...