I’ll be one of the first to admit that some traditions are very comforting. Perhaps even comfortable. There’s nothing better than a morning cup of coffee unless it’s that same cup of java consumed in total silence. I love it when our “girls” are both in my lap as I sip it’s deliciousness. Ahhh… Just thinking about that feels wonderful!

Kissing my hubby good-morning, good-bye, good-night and even occasionally for no apparent reason at all. Yeah, that’s nice, too. We even hold hands as we walk into a local restaurant. In most cases that’s nice, too.

Nothing compares to talking to my Savior when I have a chance. Yes, I pray even as I drive down the road. My prayers certainly aren’t restricted to those times and it seems that I visit with Him more with each passing year. That particular tradition has been, literally, a lifesaving one.

Could there be anything better than hugging those I love? Probably not. Top it off with saying and hearing those most beautiful words, “I love you”–and, for me, you have heaven on earth!

Yes, life wouldn’t be the same without some tradition. There is a point, however, where I hope never to go.

If there is a time when I must sleep on the same color sheets; if I have to skip my coffee because I’ve overslept by five minutes; if I begin eating my morning cereal out of the same bowl and those cereals must be layered in a certain order (rather than being mixed up as they are now)… If I ever get to the point when I feel compelled to follow a list of ritualistic behaviors before going to bed…then I beg you…just shoot me!

Put me out of my misery so that I don’t become further trapped by the things which were, no doubt, placed in my life to offer temporary shelter, solace, and some vague sence of order.

Don’t let the very things that were likely placed within me as a soft, flemsible endoskeleton harden to make me inflexible and rigid. When these kinds of behaviors cascade down upon the person I am, deterioration has, indeed, begun! And, at that point, I’ll likely be having much less fun!

So, if I’ve ceased to be free…I’ve ceased to be ME! And if you see that particular nightmare is coming to pass–PLEASE… put a round in the chamber and just shoot me!