Today makes roughly two weeks that I haven't consumed any energy drinks. Wait, before you think this blog is about to turn into a rant about having a healthy life style.... never that. The energy drink represents a routine that I have been doing since around 2009. Back then I would go out and get a red-bull to kill time because smokers in the fortune 500 company that I worked for were entitled to smoking breaks. For the employees that did not smoke there was no breaks offered. Since I worked in Manhattan I had to walk to a news stand to get my much "needed" energy drink.

Fast forward to 2016 and I was still drinking a couple of red-bulls a day. Just bear in mind that these are the twenty ounce red-bulls and they cost $5 each. Don't worry readers, I am not about to go off on a tangent on how cutting back on certain things can save you money. What I want to talk about a bit today is breaking a routine. Do you ever find yourself seeing the same people on your way to work every day, or do you sometimes think you could commute to work with your eyes closed? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions you are stuck in a routine. I'm not saying all routines are bad but by being locked down in one routine you tend to miss the world around you. "Josh, what do you mean that I miss the world, I know exactly how to get from point a to b."- current readers. Have you ever left home 15 minutes early to commute to work, or have you ever gotten off one exit before your job and taken side streets to work? You never know what might happen, hey you could find that restaurant that you always said you would try or you might just meet a new friend. Because I stopped drinking red-bulls I saved enough money in one day to pay for this site.

I'm not telling you to break your routine by quitting your job or by asking the barista that hands you your coffee everyday to marry you. All I am saying is to take baby steps into making sure that you do not end up another brick in the wall. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Instead of binge watching a show on Netflix why not pick up a book and see how fast you can finish it. Instead of dining out every night why not take that cooking class that you always wanted to do. Some people reading this might be saying I don't have enough time to do these activities, well that's fine and dandy but I want you to do one thing for me. I want you when you get a chance to look at the floor by your door way at home, is it worn out more than the flooring in any other part of the house? The answer is yes because you use it to enter and leave your house each day. Now for a second imagine the route you take to work every day, you footprints/tire-marks must be buried at least a foot in the pavement by now. If you did not understand what that sentence means it's simple, By doing the same routine over years you end up building a ditch that becomes harder to get out as time goes on.

Just so you do not think that I am a hypocrite I have changed my routine a lot these past couple of days. Almost everyone reading this post do not know that I am a shy person by nature. This blog is a way for me to break out my shell and start a new routine. My old routine was to commute two to three hours to work and then from work after a nine hours shift. I would be so exhausted after work that I would eat and either play some games or watch television. But now with this site I am able to set a new routine that I truthfully enjoy. Hopefully some of you reading this get to experience the excitement I get each time that I post on this site. Today's post actually took me an extra hour and a half because my original post did not save and I had to start from scratch. I think that it was actually for the best as I was able to put all my feelings into re writing it. Just remember: If you want change it has to start with you.

Your friend and neighborhood blogger,

Josh