The Edge.

I think it’s important to push the limits of your comfort zone. I’m not talking about jumping out of an airplane or singing karaoke, but rather doing things on a regular basis that push you outside of the boundaries of what you would consider a typical day.

I think a balanced life is all about perspective and recognizing what’s important and what isn’t; what’s worth worrying about and what is worth blowing off. And yet, knowing this does not always help. So whenever I do anything that pushes the limits - my limits, I get edgy. Is that normal? I don’t really know. I imagine that some of it is fairly normal, but I think I have a real problem with perspective. I have a problem stepping back and thinking, “what’s the worst that can happen if this situation goes wrong?” In my case - the answer is usually “nothing.” Or at the very least, it would result in a minor bump in the road. Rationally, I know this. It’s not like my life is on the line, or that I’ll actually lose everything if event XYZ does not go smoothly, but that is not always communicated to the rest of my body. The feeling in the pit in my stomach, the cold hands and feet, the rapid heart rate. Is it chemical? Maybe. I am hoping so to some extent. But maybe not… maybe I need to give my mind a workout on a regular basis. It reminds me of what happens when you physically workout - or rather, you don’t. The less you do - the smaller you get, the weaker you get, and the more pain you go through when you do actually have to “exert” yourself. I need to keep pushing out of the shell in order to get far enough out to gain some perspective. I need to voluntarily do the things I don’t like to do more often so that I don’t dread those things when I actually have to do them.

Here’s to keeping perspective.