Comfort Zone

I am a creature of habit and convenience, I readily admit it. I also have my personal 'Hassle vs Pleasure' principle that if an activity that I might want to participate in is more of a hassle than the pleasure of attending/partaking in it will be, then I opt out. Of course, sometimes, the hassle is in my head and if I psyche myself up, then I can overcome that ratio and still enjoy myself.

Related to being a creature of habit, most Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings when I am at home in Austin, I set my alarm for 4:30am to have sufficient time to wake up, have some coffee, prep my bag and get my suit on so I am on deck at the YMCA by about 5:45 for my 6am masters swimming practice. I also have my pre-swim routine where I shower to wet my hair and apply leave-in conditioner to protect from all the chlorine that seeps into my cap during an hour-long practice. Yes I wear a cap and no, it doesn't prevent my hair from getting wet, just keeps it out of my face while swimming. I have been swimming with this same masters swim team for over 16 years now. Some years my swim commitment was not as strong as I would like, life would just sometimes get in the way. My couch and teammates know, too, that I am pretty hell bent on swimming near the center of the pool, away from the vents and away from the glaring pool lights. I just really love to swim in the pre-dawn hours and in the darkest part of the pool. 

While on my trip away from Austin in the fall, I swam in three separate pools; one in Banff, Canada, one near Manassas, VA and one in Richmond, VA. Each pool offered it's own challenges for this creature of habit and convenience and forced me out of my comfort zone in various ways with mixed results.

There is a lot of research out that discusses the Comfort Zone and that getting outside it is 'where the magic happens'. Along with the research are many graphics that explain it pretty well, like this one:

Or this one:

Then there are silly ones, too:

The saying goes, like a rubber band, a mind stretched doesn't return to it's original size.

The trick is to get that first taste of being out of one's Comfort Zone. I visualize my CZ as a groove in the road that sometimes requires additional acceleration to get over or out of in order to move forward.

Once recently, I left the house without my cell phone. At first I thought perhaps I would go home and pick it up then decided against it, even in an emergency, I think I would be okay without it. Then I got to thinking about the timeline for cell phones and all recent technological advances. I distinctly remember being in college when I was first introduced to personal computers. One day, I was meeting up with a friend to get some lunch and they asked me to shut down their new Apple computer. I glanced over at it with a quizzical look because it was the first time I had ever seen one. Needless to say, they had to shut it down themself. 

A few months later, I ventured into the computer lab in the library to write a paper. I was literally there for hours, writing, rewriting and on occasion, I would go up into the library in search of a book and then return to the computer for more writing. Once I thought my essay was in sufficient shape to print, I walked up to the proctor's table and asked for help to print. They followed me back to my station and the first thing he asked was, "Did you not save this?!" I had not. He proceeded to tell me that I was extremely lucky that I didn't lose all the work I had spent hours working on and needed to save regularly in the future. Crisis averted and yet, not the last time I would be stumped by technology. I am not a complete technophobe and yet I believe I have a fairly healthy wariness of it. The cynicism probably comes from many movies and themes in them like The Terminator, Iron Man or a favorite, Sneakers. This scene plays regularly in my head:

Like many tech advancements, your comfort zone can be both a positive and a negative, something that can protect you from harm, or keep you from becoming a better version of yourself. When I swam in the pool in Banff, while gazing up at the sky through the clear roof of the pool, I felt relaxed, yet swimming close to the jets pulsing warm water into the pool, I ended up with a mild case of vertigo. Swimming on the side of the pool, for me, is irritating and uncomfortable on the one hand, and prevention from getting vertigo on the other. I have had varying degrees of vertigo in the past and it is no fun. At worst, I can barely get out of bed due to the spinning, at a minimum, I experience mild nausea and general malaise that wreaks havoc on my motivation and energy. Escaping ones comfort zone can feel similarly.

As I write this post, I have Pride and Prejudice playing on another screen. I am not sure how many times I have watched it, either partially or all the way through, but knowing how it all turns out, is comforting. In Psychology Today, there was a report on why we rewatch shows and movies.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/defining-memories/202212/play-and-repeat-why-we-watch-the-same-shows-over-and-over

"The Mister Rogers Effect
At the beginning of every show, Mister Rogers went through the same routine of changing into his cardigan sweater and around-the-house sneakers while singing the same reassuring words. He did this to provide the necessary stability and comfort to his young viewers. According to research by Cristel Antonia Russell and Sidney Levy¹, repetition works for adults as well. Knowing what will happen bestows order and safety, especially during times when our lives feel uncomfortably less controlled."

Taking on this 60 to Sixty list is a lot like swimming in pools that I am not familiar with. Many of the activities I have chosen for this list are not unfamiliar to me, the degree to which I am doing them is the stretch. They push me just outside my current comfort zone and a stretch me to prepare more goals. This time around, there is an added sense of vulnerability that for some reason is tough for me at this time of my life. The magic does really happen outside of our comfort zones, we just have to judge how far we can go to create habits then push outside them again. I plan to push outside them in ways that don't take me down, like vertigo can disorient me when I swim in the wrong place in the pool or push myself too hard. 

A while ago, a friend gave me a gift called "Positive Affirmations so you can HAVE A GREAT F*CKING DAY". Oddly enough, I recently pulled the latest card and it stated, "Comfort zones are f*cking boring. I embrace challenges as stepping stones to success." 

Here's to more stepping stones and more success, whatever that looks like in you life.

So far, I have completed or continue to work on 6 items after my soft launch several months ago. As I continue to get out of my comfort zone/groove, I will write more about them:

1. Masters Swimming race at 59 - TBD

2. Masters Swimming race at 60 - TBD

3. Train and swim a 50 butterfly - TBD (I suspect this will happen end of 2026 or in 2027)

4. Train and swim a 100 I.M. - TBD (I suspect this will happen end of 2026 or in 2027)

5. Highland Lakes Challenge - Fall 2026

*6. Pilates - Completed 3 months, will write about it soon.

7. Yoga

8. PVolve

9. Pure Barre

10. Bollywood Dance

11. Ballroom Dance

12. Salsa Dance

13. Make jam with/like Jamie in Chinon

*14. Notre Dame, Paris - Completed and will write about that, too.

*15. Banff Book & Film Festival - Went Nov of 2025, will write about it still.

16. Big Dress Photo Shoot - TBD

17. Garden with/like Alexandra Fasulo

18. Make a dress with/like Poppy Lu

19. Pickleball lessons

20. The Lost Kitchen - Maine

21. French Laundry - California

22. Chez Panisse - California

23. See the Redwoods - California

24. Oregon

25. Idaho

26. Hawaii

27. Alaska

28. Utah

29. Writing Class - Looking for one now

30. Painting Class

31. Photography Class

32. Brunch with/like Babs

33. Run for the Water - Fall 2026

34. Cap 10k - Spring 2027

35. Sprint Triathlon - 2027

36. Event at Red Rocks - Hopefully summer 2026

37. Sistine Chapel visit

38. Grand Cayman Open Water Swim - Summer 2027

39. Sample 60 Cuisines from 60 countries

40. Universal Yums - 6 months amended, ordering soon.

41. Write book

42. Chautaqua Institute

43. The Artist's Way

44. Galveston Diet Eating

45. Brightline Eating

46. Vegetarian Eating

47. Pescatarian Eating

48. Power Lift class

*49. 60 to 60 Blog - Ongoing

50. Miracle Morning - need to restart

51. F45

52. Show at The Sphere in Vegas

*53. Read 1 book per month, Since August, I have read Project Hail Mary, Incredibly Remarkable Creatures, Tom Lake, Horse and the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. For this month, I am reading The Which Way Tree.

54. Paddle boarding 

*55. Food Tracking - ongoing, will restart after Paris (ate more cheese, chocolate, bread and drank more wine than I typically do in a year!)

56. Go to a country I have never visited

57. Think of and eat a Last Meal like Mythical Kitchen

58. Order and eat Hot Ones like Sean Evans show

59. Palo Duro Canyon

60. Snowmobiling