Welcome back to “Life and Random Thinking” – I decided to write a sequel to the first post with the name “Where Does Time Go?

I decided this was essential because I asked for comments on three topics in my first post, and it’s only fair to share why I was thinking about those topics.

1. You can’t live in the past.  
2. Delinquents come in all ages. 
3. Comfort zone – place to avoid.

Thank you friends for your comments on the above topics, each one represents some thoughts I have had about blogs.  – David ♥

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I checked and walking the road to the top is 2.85 km at Giant’s Head Mountain in Summerland. The road is my choice right now, the grind and the friendly giant trails I will try, if I can, when I get more fit!

Comfort zone – place to avoid

Let me make it clear,  I enjoy being comfortable.

I also am not a person who does mountain top hikes that last weeks, I don’t sleep on the ground, and I don’t have abs that you can grate your cheese on.  Not even close! ha ha

When I scrutinize my day, I realize that sometimes I am tempted to spend too much time on the couch, being comfortable, reading, relaxing.

They say black holes are so strong that light can’t escape – my couch must have a tractor beam on my gluteus maximus just as strong sometimes.

I believe it is excellent to relax but not all the time, and not too much either.

Balance right?

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I know your life is busy, chores, hobbies, life, visiting and so on.

You deserve some comfort in your day and everyone does but one of the comfort zones I am talking about is when you stop challenging yourself.

Failed anything lately?  Have you done anything lately that risked failure?

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Are you still learning? Mentally and physically I think we have muscles that will become flabby and weak unless our lives include habits that stretch us.

It’s the stretching that is the goal and an achievement on its own.

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I think I am still a Toastmaster, after 14 years, because I am uncomfortable speaking.  I am not a self-confident person naturally.

Speaking in front of a group, giving toasts, sharing an inspirational topic or being on the executive of a board etc are all muscles that I must regularly exercise and stretch. If I don’t they will quickly decline and disappear.

The comfort zone is tempting, but I would rather overcome my fear, and avoid the regret.

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I suppose I relate it to when I was 15 years of age. In school we had sock hops in the gym.  I sometimes stood along the wall for part of the sock hop.

Remember Elton John’s Crocodile Rock?

I could hear the music, I could see the dancing but it was safe, and comfortable along the wall.  But not much fun.

I had to risk my comfort zone and get on the floor if I wanted to enjoy the sock hop, and I knew I was not a dancer!

The noon-hour dance was over quick, and I wanted my memories to be doing and not watching/wishing.

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In Assos, or Behram, Turkey with my Sue

I think the memories I treasure the most are the experiences. The times with my family doing things, not my alone time.

They aren’t the popcorn on the couch moments either,

• they are the mountain top moments,
• the moments laughing with my son, and daughter
• the memories teaching my son and daughter to ride a bike
• sheltering from the rain watching a storm with my daughter
• the meandering bike rides with my son,
• the snorkeling discoveries in Hawaii,
• the trials of travelling, getting lost, catching the plane just in time,
• the baseball game trips with my son, the 7th inning stretch song together
• the unexpected discovery of a bear on my picnic table when I was camping in my teenage years

I will fill my picnic basket of memories with experiences, and challenges and not regrets.

Those treasures can be pulled out and enjoyed from time to time, but I want to fill that basket to the brim.

The comfort zone tempts me, and I will visit, but I will also leave from time to time.

Contrary to what we usually believe, … the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times.

The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limit in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult or worthwhile.

Optimal experience is thus something we make happen. – Mihalyi Csikszentimihalyi

Coasting downhill is wonderful for skateboards, but life is full of ups and downs, and going uphill gives us muscles and those wonderful endorphins!

Final thought: As I was breathing heavy, and dragging my feet uphill Giant’s Mountain the other day, I thought to myself: If Mount Everest was flat, there would be no celebration. 

Thanks for reading and visiting. My thoughts on this post seem to be disorganized a bit, and my comments zigzagged but I hope they were meaningful to you.

– Blogging friends I appreciate you! – David