Strapping on the Torture Chamber of Footwear
Our boxes are comfortably secure; four known walls protecting us from our paranoia of imagined doom. New experiences equate to stepping out of your box and into unknown consequences. When my husband wanted to go skiing, I agreed to step out of my I’m-not-an-athlete box and give it a try. Geared up and enduring the incredible discomfort of snow boots I approached the group lesson with trepidation.
Early in the lesson, I was publicly removed from the class and placed in a “special” smaller class. The instructor had essentially culled the weakest animal from the herd. Okay, a little humiliating but probably for the best. Over the next couple of days, I skied into a ski lift pole and a group of snowboarders and cried in the hotel room when no one was watching. Through it all, I continued strapping on that torture chamber of footwear.
It was a horrible and amazing accomplishment, running the gamut from physical and mental anguish to exhilarating success. Gliding down the beautiful, snow packed mountain in the crisp Colorado air filled my soul with a kind of energy that I would have never known had I stayed in my secure little box. Embarking on journeys outside the realm of my normal existence has led to many surprising discoveries about myself.
I’ve learned that I am capable of harnessing an inner strength to prevail over problems.
I understand being proud of my small-town roots while I love, love, love urban living. I’ve discovered I enjoy hiking even though it’s not in a climate-controlled environment. I do sometimes like eating onions, broccoli and beets. I have, however, tasted a maple bacon doughnut beer that is not welcome in or anywhere near my box ever again. And then there’s golf … golf is infuriatingly frustrating. Not every new thing is a winner.
On Being Dumped Out of Your Box
Many new experiences are voluntary, but some are thrust upon us by the hands of fate. At the age of 78 my mother began living alone for the first time in her life. She has bravely faced the challenges of adapting to her new life with determination. At times she grows weary with grief, knowing she must bear the weight of responsibility on her shoulders alone. Sharing the burdens of life with her soulmate is no longer an option.
She soldiers on, overcoming obstacles and developing a new way of life for herself. The advice that I’ve given my mother as she enters this new chapter of her life is simple. Change is not necessarily bad, it’s just different. Life with dad was wonderful and special, but life without him can also be fulfilling in completely different ways. Possibilities exist if you overcome your fear of the unknown.
Even if the results of a new experience are not as planned, the lessons learned are valuable and often will take us in unexpected directions that can have a profound effect on our lives. There may be some boxes from which we will never venture, some from which we will voluntarily escape and some that fate will dump us out of whether we like it or not.
Be bravely determined, keep an open mind and experience as much of life as you can. Open as many doors to new discoveries as possible during your lifetime. Favorable or unfavorable, frightening or exciting, new experiences make memories and sometimes change lives. What’s the worst that could happen?
Originally published at Medium.com on 10-1-2018.
