I took a vacation this year. Pretty unusual in and of itself. Took it with the husband and son, even more unusual. (Yes, what normally passes for a ‘vacation’ is usually a long-weekend-with-a-girlfriend. Sue me) We went to the other side of the continent and a friend took us camping. Camping. In tents. No running water, no electricity. Cooking on the campfire. Now, I’m a somewhat girly girl living in the ‘burbs. I wear makeup every day. And do my hair. I like my appliances, and my comforts. Even one of my best friends who has known me forever found the idea of me going camping to be a bit of a stretch. But for 4 days I went barefaced and didn’t shower and didn’t know what my hair looked like. Better than that, I didn’t check email or text or go on the internet or clog up my brain with all of the stuff available for that purpose. I walked, I helped my son identify plants, I watched pelicans, I poked in tide pools and watched the sun on the Pacific. It was freeing.

One morning, I went with my friend and fearless leader for a hike. Nice and easy, 2 miles to the sandy beach north of the campground. And then we decided to go back by taking the “direct” route along the shore. We made this choice standing at the end of the sandy beach, looking at the rocks, knowing that the other end of our trip was also rocky. What we didn’t know was what we’d find in between. What we found was a challenge. We crawled thru crevices, scrambled over boulders, climbed up crumbling walls of rock and dropped down the other side. I probably haven’t done anything even remotely like that since I was a kid giving my mother fits on vacation in the Rockies. Maybe not even then. By the time we got back, we were tired, dirty, sweaty, and our sides hurt from laughter. It was exhilarating.

I spend a lot of time in my comfort zone. (Even though it’s often uncomfortable) I go through my days doing the same old stuff. Which is life. We all have to go to work , clean the house, feed the kids, blah blah blah. But it’s when I take a moment to get outside of the zone that I learn something, that I re-energize, that I feel strong. I need to remember this.