Comfort can cause suffering.
That sounds odd, but it is very often true. Nassim Taleb captured the idea in this quote:
“In nature, we never repeat the same motion; in captivity (office, gym, commute, sports), life is just repetitive-stress injury. No randomness.”
You know that feeling of being boxed in by something but not knowing what it is? It comes from getting too comfortable inside our own patterns.
Same streets. Same chairs. Same time of day. Same ways of using ourselves.
Nothing terrible.
Just enough sameness that some part of us starts to feel boxed in.
And as weird as this sounds, I do not look for the “right” change to make. Sometimes I look for any change to make.
Even if it seems weird or pointless.
I will let my dog follow his nose down some street we have never walked before. I will go to a coffee shop or restaurant I am almost certain I will not like. (And even if I am right, it still feels good to go there.)
This morning, I went to one of my favorite parks. It is a bird and nature preserve about 15 minutes from my house. I have gone there dozens of times over the last few years.
But I had never gone there early in the morning.
And the thing is: I did not want to go.
It seemed odd to go so early. It was only about 4:30 am. Too early, too dark. Too outside my normal pattern.
But I went.
And once I was there, I walked on a trail I had never noticed before.
Then I found some rock formations I had never climbed on. We are in the rainy season here in Mérida, and to reach one of the trails, I had to climb down some old stairs that I had never used.
And then it hit me.
This was the first time in a year or more that I had done any real climbing or stair use early in the morning. I do it later in the day or evening but never before sunrise.
Such a small thing. Almost nothing.
But it felt fantastic.
When I got home and started my day, I felt like a new person. Because I had introduced a little “structured” randomness. My feet woke up. My pelvis felt different.
It was awesome. Parts of me that do not get much variety from walking my dogs and riding my bike in the morning had a different kind of conversation with gravity.
And I was floating all morning.
So, just a thought, if anyone needs it. ?
Consider doing something new, or something old at a new time, even if it feels pointless or if you don't know why you are doing it.
Randomness counts in all amounts.
Peace!
Ryan
