You Don't Need To Break Out Of Your Comfort Zone

I recently had to break up with a routine that I loved. The Sunday New York Times. Every single Sunday for the last 6 or 7 years, I get the Times and spread it out and take several hours to read it. It's relaxing and it's something I look forward to on Sundays. Then the New York Times decided to thin itself out. A lot. Really thin, like Tuesday thin. At the same time, they decided to raise their prices to $6 a paper which is ridiculous because they weren't giving us more or making anything better. So I stopped my Sunday paper reading a few weeks ago.
We talk a LOT about changing things up, breaking out of ruts, trying new things, meeting new people, etc. Our ruts should be broken out of like chains and going to the same places every day is to be avoided. There are countless excellent blog posts and articles to help us do these things and I'm not saying that you shouldn't read them. However, lately my comfort zone has been, well, absent. I have been a model of the "try new things constantly" method and to be honest, I don't really like it. This post is in praise of everything comfortable.
First, a little research.
Kids and Dogs: I have a dog in the house with me and not kids but my mother has been giving me a lot of kid raising tips. Additionally, everyone has dog obedience ideas for me and it all involves "creating a routine". There are hundreds of dog training sites out there that agree with this. Creating a routine allows dogs (and kids?) to know what's coming next so they act more predictably such as set walk times, meal times, etc.
So what about adults? What level of routine do we need to feel comfortable?
I think routine is a little bit unpopular right now because of all of the cool new great stuff out there but don't forget to show your routines a little love this week.
My favorites:
New York Times Reading
Coffee every morning
Movies at Sundance once a week
Taking a walk Saturday mornings
Watering my plants once a week
New shoes every fall