External monotony tempered by internal evolution

The HyWy and I were exchanging some emails the other day and we got on the topic of monotony in our daily lives.  Interestingly as a working professional one of the things we most rely on is routine, but at the same time it is one of our greatest enemies in the fight to enjoy what we do.  For example, we often rely on routines to ensure that we do everything that needs doing from chores to tasks at work, because it makes our lives easier and more organized.  Conversely if we submit to the routine so much our lives feel boring and bland.  "All I do is go to work, come home, eat, and go to bed.  My life is so boring."  To break up the routine we will take classes, hang out with friends, go out, go on vacations, go to the movies, etc.  I just spoke with someone after a long time and they told me that nothing is going on in their just typical family life and the family routine.  The weariness was evident in their voice.  This made me think about what is stagnant in our lives: our external circumstances or our internal evolution? 

My parents are going to an abbey in Europe for a day and that got me thinking about the monastic life.  Arguably the monastic life is the most externally boring lifestyle, especially from the perspective of a fast paced city living corporate type.  After all the monastic life from the physical standpoint is not very different from the corporate drone working, eating, and sleeping.  The major difference is the presence of internal evolution.  The corporate drone doesn't feel this and attributes it's absence to the monotony in their life.  Knowing that there are spiritual giants out there that live equally if not more mundane lives than me makes me realize that the thing I fear most is not daily monotony, but internal stagnancy.  To that end I think the way to promote internal evolution is through cultural experiences, continued education, and new experiences.  The obvious question being if we use these opportunities for individual growth then how does a monastic grow considering they are often not afforded these opportunities.  I would argue that they don't need opportunities for growth, but that they grow by being.  Ultimately reaching that state would be my goal in this lifetime or the next.