How boring is routine, the ordinary. And -- how comforting they are. Or, how stimulating variety and change are. And -- how exhausting and unsettling. I suspect that most of us would not find any of these phrases fitting or satisfactory all the time. It isn't a matter of settling on some abstract principle and living that way; our moods and experience enter a lot into how we feel about the ordinary or the novel. We shouldn't oversimplify life by trying to force ourselves into one such pattern. Each side has its value and its place. Settling too easily for the boring and dull or demanding always the exciting and new, either seems an unrealistic and defeating way of living. Their alternation in our lives gives us moments or rest and recuperation and also hope and incentive. A too rich table at the banquet of life can leave us finally dulled and sluggish, as bored as we could be by daily routine. It may be that we show we've learned from life's experiences when we welcome the alternation and quit complaining.
— Don Talafous OSB
dtalafous@csbsju.edu