Melancholy Friday?

I'd like to think of today as a melancholy Friday. Getting back into the swing of things after an extended time on the road is always a little difficult, but today I managed to muscle through it pretty well. The day had the texture of melancholy because I had to dig a little to drum up the motivation for grinding back into the daily practice. Doing what I've learned is right for me is more challenging when the excuses to avoid the discipline stack up against you.

Hazy Sunrise over the Anacostia

All that being said, an objective view of the day leads me to acknowledge that it was not a melancholy day at all. Two-a-day walking made a comeback, calisthenics were conducted, I'm writing again, meditation went well, work proved fairly productive, and we celebrated a roommate's birthday with some gifts that went over well and an ice cream cake. We even had breakfast for supper which is never a bad way to prepare for the evening fast.

Looking back, I'm glad that the last year of "practice" gave me the fortitude to continue my practice. The accomplishments fell into place, and even though they weren't perfect they were maintained. The universe even gifted me with a sunrise. The air was warm. The breeze was humid. The air conditioning cool.

Tomorrow will be a new experience, and I'm looking forward to carrying on into another set of adventures, no matter how routine they may sometimes seem.

Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

It is not difficult to find plenty of discussion about stepping out of your comfort zone.  These is advice on why you should do it, how you should do it, quotes on doing it, and why you might not want to do it.  Google returned over 130,000 pages of search results in less than a second.

Today during my early walk, when my feet and back were hurting for reasons that I have yet to understand, I came to the realization that stepping outside of my comfort zone results in discomfort from time to time. Now, Rory is fond of saying that "physical discomfort is only important if your attitude is wrong." I'm inclined to agree with him on this sentiment, but it is worth noting that by its definition a step from the comfort zone is likely to lead to a little discomfort.  

That's alright, and the clear course of action is to keep stepping because your comfort zone will expand to fill your experiences for the most part.  It's just tougher to keep stepping in reality compared to the theory of resilience you had in your head when you were imagining it.

Anacostia Sunrise with the ex-USS Barry Front and Center

I did manage to push through this morning, albeit at a slower pace than I would have liked), and the afternoon walk, counterintuitively to me, was a much more comfortable experience.

I did go ahead and capture another shot of an Anacostia Sunrise with the ex-USS Barry playing a prominent role.  The picture and the composition were familiar and comfortable, and that's just what I needed to put another three brace of miles under the soles of my sneaks.