Comfort Zone

This week I received a great many questions about my current living conditions. Let me just describe for a second:

2 Chairs - One from the Patio and a Bean Bag Chair.
1 Table - Patio Table.
TV and Computer
Dog
No Fridge - Sold it. Using a cooler
No Bed - Sold It. - Sleeping on the floor

That's about all I have right now. Oh yes, I have my bike and clothes but not much else.

So people ask, "Why are you doing this?" My answer all week is "Because it's good to get out of the Comfort Zone" At first I was just saying it but now I'm living it. I think we the Jewell Family and many of the people around us get too comfortable. In fact some fight to stay comfortable and don't want to leave. I'm a believer that you can't grow in comfort. Think of an athlete. If you do the same thing over and over again do you expect improvement? Improvement only comes from stretching the comfort. So why can't life be like that? It can and it should. Not all the time because then life would be really uncomfortable. I'm not up for sleeping on the floor the rest of my life. 2 more weeks though won't kill me. In fact I find I spend less time sleeping when I'm on the floor. This gives me more of the day to enjoy.

A couple things that have come out of being out of the comfort zone.

1. Food - It seems a waste to throw away all the food we had. So I'm eating it. I'm eating it before I buy anything new. Tonight for instance I had a can of Mexican Chilli. It wasn't bad. I already ate all the cold stuff (no fridge) so now I'm on to the canned things. I'm dreading the day I have to eat the Sardines. Mary eats them, I hate them.

2. Walks - Scout and I have added an evening walk to our routine. What's the point of sitting in the Bean Bag any more than I have to. Today we walked out to the Picnic table and I sat for 20 minutes. The sun felt great and the view was beautiful.

3. Bike Rides - I have my bike, so I'm going to ride it. Yesterday I should have stayed home. The sky was clear when I left the house. 25 minutes in, it started to rain. Rain like I've never ridden in before. Buckets I tell you. I had to quickly hide my phone. It cleared fairly quick and for the next 30 minutes I got dry. Then all of a sudden it came back. Only this time it was harder. It was raining so hard the streets couldn't drain. I could not see the road in front of me and I was sure the cars couldn't see me. At it's worst I spent a few minutes under a tree until it was raining so hard the tree was losing. I then found a picnic table and sat under it. By the time I got home, I was shivering and jumped directly into a warm shower with my clothes on. Totally out of my comfort zone but I know it won't get worse. The next time it's normal raining I probably won't hesitate, I'll just ride. One down side to that little ride, my phone is dead. I thought I had it protected but I was fooling myself. The rain was so bad everything got wet.

I'm sure I will experience more during the next two weeks. Hopefully I can carry the experience with me for a long time.

It's a good life...
Dave