Walking the dog, cooking dinner, exercising, journaling… what do you do, even when you don’t feel like it?

All of us have that one thing that we simply must do every day. No one instructs us to do it, but we take it upon ourselves. It could be freezing cold, or you could be under the weather, or completely swamped with work, but, for whatever reason, you must do this thing. It’s absolutely imperative. But what is it that makes this one thing feel so non-negotiable?

Consider the things you do even when you don’t feel like it. Do we do these things to make others happy? Do we do these things to make ourselves happy? Do we do it because we feel responsible? Is it just a matter of keeping a commitment?

To me, the actions that we do even when we don’t feel like doing them aren’t just born out of habit. These "imperatives” in our lives hold a mirror to our most important daily rituals. These imperative rituals we can’t escape (and honestly don’t want to escape) because they keep us grounded. In many ways, the imperative ritual is the proverbial first domino in the trajectory of our day. Perhaps imperative rituals can even reveal something about our personalities, too - our innate need to take care, or need to move, or need to be creative.

Tell us your imperative ritual in the comments below.