Personal Risk

A friend of mine put this quote by Edwin Freeman on her Facebook status this week: "Boats are safest in the harbor. But that is not what boats were made for." It struck me with its simple truth. Boats are designed to get us from one spot to another, through choppy waters and fearful uncertainty, to the destination we were made for.

I'm at Down Home Bed & Breakfast in Ferintosh, AB, and if I was any more relaxed on this Saturday morning, I'd be in a coma. I realized last night that my intense preference for routine can easily become a handicap if I don't push myself to move outside of my comfort zone once in awhile.

We all have character traits that are positive on one side, and negative on another. I'm organized, but rigid. I'm outgoing, but dominant. I'm focused, but not spontaneous. If we don't make ourselves do what's uncomfortable sometimes, we become set in our ways and miss chances to grow in our personalities.

My two roommates for this weekend retreat are night owls. As one of my friends said yesterday, "Coffee is running in my veins at all times." I went to bed at 11 pm after a successful writing session, feeling peaceful and happy, and they were just revving up to do their best stamping and scrapbooking. They fell into bed around 4 am, giggling and enjoying themselves, and that was out of my comfort zone because I'm used to getting a solid eight hours of sleep every night.

They were terrified this morning that I was going to be pissed at them for waking me up in the wee hours (there was a spider panic on as one creepy crawler made its way onto my friend in her bed) but I wasn't at all mad. I needed the process of seeing life from a different perspective. When I get home I won't be up at 4 am, but here on a girl's weekend, it's a good thing to be nudged out of my fuddy-duddy ways.

We all need personal risk from time to time. It becomes easy to expect that everyone is like us, that our "normal" is everyone else's standard, but I've been reminded on this get-away that we all function differently. Going to bed at 11 like I do isn't better than staying up until 4 am. I'm glad I have the confidence to do my own thing without feeling like I have to do what my friends are doing, and they have the same assurance. It means we are all growing up, into the people we have become, and it's refreshing to embrace our differences and still enjoy spending time together.

This morning I slept in until 8:45, which was like a piece of heaven on earth. At 9 our friendly B&B hosts provided a breakfast fit for royalty, and the rest of the day is spreading out before me like a Christmas present, shiny and tempting, to open whenever and however I would like, with only myself and my desires to consider. I'm going to revel in the delight that this relaxed day brings, and pay attention to the ways I can take small risks to stretch my personality and improve my sense of spontaneity.