Comfort Zone...

(Written in February of this year….)

I just put a batch of brownies in the oven.  It’s a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon and a little dessert after supper tonight sounds good. 

Ah, but working in a partially demo’d kitchen presents interesting problems.  The ingredients for the brownies are in the cupboard in the laundry room.  The wooden spoon to mix them, in the family room.  I have choices, too: bake them in the oven, which still works, or bake them in the toaster oven, in the front bathroom.

I chose the oven.  In the kitchen.  Habit, I guess….

The mixing bowl and brownie pan were both still in the kitchen, but both needed to be washed before using them: plaster dust.  We are mostly through with the plaster dust now.  But some still lingers in the cupboards and drawers.  But that’s nothing new: the drawers, over sixty years old, rub wood on wood when I open and close them, so anything I use out of a drawer has to have the sawdust washed off of it…

Having traveled extensively in an RV, I know that it doesn’t take much space to cook a meal, or wash the dishes.  I also know that food containers can be squirreled away in any nook or cranny, if need be.  So, having a kitchen that only partially functions is not such a big deal.

It’s nice to be able to function outside of my comfort zone.  How many people can do that?  How many of us have to have things “just so” in our kitchens?  In our lives?  How many of us are uncomfortable when things vary from the norm?

Well, I think it’s a good thing to wander beyond the limits of our comfortable place in life.  That’s how we learn new things.  And see new places.  And meet new people.  If we stay put, in that comfort zone, we are cut off from the possibility of new and different adventures, aren’t we?

Besides, at our age, we ought to have enough self-confidence to know that we are capable of doing things we have never tried.  Or eating something new and different.  Or participating in an activity we have only watched before….

Of course, there are times when we have to have our ducks in a row, most certainly.  As a nurse, I could never give a medication until I had verified that I was giving the right medication, in the right dose, to the right patient, by the right route, and at the right time.  No deviation from that was tolerable, period.

But this is life, not work.  This is trying sushi, not giving medications.  This is fun, not a chore.  Trying something new is an adventure.  Failing at something new is okay.  At least you tried.  Well, failing at bungee jumping, or skydiving might have consequences, but not most things…..right?

So, are you willing to step out of your comfort zone?  And try something new?

Cali