The Magic of Ordinary Sundays 

Is routine underrated? That might resonate with many of you as the kids go back to school and you return to settling into the new term time, whether you have kids or not. Suddenly the traffic is worse at certain times of the day, the holidays are cheaper away from the school breaks – lots of positives and negatives all round. 

The six-week block of summer holidays can be a blessing or a curse for some and that is why we should not underestimate the value of routine in our lives. We heave a sigh of relief at knowing that ‘normality’ (whatever that is!) is returning during that first week of September. Don’t get me wrong, we all love a bit of ‘free reign’ and the joy in spontaneity but there is nothing quite like that diary entry of stability – every Saturday we are going to do our Parkrun, every Wednesday we are going to paddle with our Club and almost every Sunday we are going to take part in Aquapaddle! So regardless of how your week goes, you know that for at least one day in that week, you will be doing exactly what you enjoy doing and can commit to that with the confidence that you will probably achieve it. 

Life can be fast moving, unpredictable, busy, with family and work commitments, so having something that happens once a week (let’s stick with the Sunday theme) can give you an anchor, it may not be the most exciting thing you do regularly each week but that’s sort of the point; you know where you are going, what you are doing, you know the familiar faces and water and you should know that you will feel better afterwards! 

So, how does your Sunday morning ritual go; alarm, breakfast (don’t do it without, it will be much tougher!), check the weather, get your paddling clothes ready, get the board on the car, arrive and see some familiar faces. “Good Mornings” all around, a conversation about the weather (we are British after all!), briefing, and then suddenly you are on the water.  

Sometimes, you don’t need to achieve any more than just turning up – that can be a huge deal if you are in a ‘funk’ – everything else just flows, it’s unlikely you would dip out at this stage and the feeling after any exercise is just wonderful, whether you’ve pushed yourself or just chatted with a friend whilst paddling. It’s all SO good for the body and the brain. 

We’ve all had those Sundays when it doesn’t go quite to plan, motivation has a huge part to play in that, but habit could well be more important – we often dip out because we don’t feel ‘motivated’ right now but if you are in the habit of a routine, you are going to win out. 

You may feel that ‘one’ Sunday will not change your life, but what about 10, 20, 30 or 50 in a row – think of the accidental benefits from that; you become fitter, you become more confident on your board, you learn the water, you make more friends, you develop a habit, you have something to look forward to and you create memories. 

Not every Sunday will be the same, and that could relate to your mood, the weather or just because you are carrying the weight of a difficult week with you, but when grouped together these ordinary Sundays become extraordinary, especially over the course of the year. Individually, they may not seem so special, but they have now become part of your life and so has paddling. 

Talking of the weather, it has started going through a subtle change, and, without wishing to rush the Summer away, we know the Autumn and Winter is coming; we know things could get a bit tougher, we definitely need that habit to kick in to kick us out of bed when the forecast is grim. What a feeling of satisfaction after though, we may all be soaking wet, but we got out, we moved and we probably all laughed a lot about the situation – again, thoroughly therapeutic! 

The other ‘health benefit’ of your Sunday habit is being unavailable, no phone, no emails, no housework, not thinking about your list of jobs; how luxurious to be completely unreachable for an hour in a world where we are always connected! 

Our lives revolve around quite big events, a wedding, a holiday, a race, an achievement, a milestone – let’s embrace our ‘ordinary’ days, be that a Tuesday or Sunday and appreciate the thread of SUP loveliness running through them. 

One Sunday can become two, ten, twenty or 100 – there must be many AquaPaddlers out there who have achieved these numbers without even counting; they are definitely in a good routine. Part of that is spending time with your “Sunday” people, who may not be the people you spend your everyday life with. You may get to know them incredibly well or keep them at a respectable arm length of being a ‘paddler friend’ – we can’t all be best friends with each other, and we don’t need to know everyone’s life story. There is something reassuring about seeing a familiar face though. We all have those that fit into a certain group and having a fantastic set of paddling buddies certainly helps with that pull to the water even though you may not see them for another seven days. So, on a lazy sunny Sunday, when it may well be easier to stay at home, in the garden, with your family – let those paddler acquaintances help make our ordinary Sundays become like magic.  

Let’s embrace those days and get back to a healthy routine of getting on the water, even if only for one day a week – think of the benefits of friendship and fresh air and doing something absolutely for your own self. 

Happy Paddling! 

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