Comfort Zone...

My daughters stand on the same soapbox, side by side, pontificating about the benefits of leaving my comfort zone. “Dad, you can’t make any progress unless you do.” They warn me.

I’m thinking: “What progress?”.  It took me a long time to get here and it feels pretty damn good now that I have. At this point I’m not looking for a new job or house or, god forbid, a new wife. I can’t handle the one I’ve got.

The only spiritual enlightenment I look forward to will be when I cross the rainbow bridge, to follow all my dogs. Twenty years from now, thank you.

My Idea of wild and crazy is to go somewhere other than Ned’s Southside for dinner.

Like most people my age, if you stuck me in the freezer and cut me in half, you would find lots of rings. Concentric circles that tell of rapid growth and some briefly dormant times. The point is, I’ve worked a bunch of different jobs, bottom to top. Seven houses, six different career paths.

Having tried the bed that was too hard and the one that was too soft, I’ve found the one that is just right.

Now you’re telling me to get up and look elsewhere? For a different bed? Are you nuts?

OK, I’m not dead though and I did switch it up. I got out of my comfort zone.

Having always been a gym guy, my most recent morning routine has been at the local Planet Fitness. It’s only 9 minutes from home, big, spacious, friendly. I often see friends there, some of whom I used to see at other gyms before Planet Fitness opened 8 years ago.I have a history. But last week, in San Diego with Ruth, we went every morning to her big, new gym. I loved the latest & greatest equipment and decided to look around here for the same stuff.

The bottom line? After eight years, I quit Planet Fitness and joined Anytime fitness down the street. Smaller, cleaner, newer, less crowded, and equipped with the exact machines I was looking for.

Sweet!

You see girls, I CAN leave my comfort zone, especially when I find an even more comfortable zone, that is.

This morning I finished my workout, loving the treadmills and elliptical machines with attached TV screens that I control myself. No more FOX NEWS blaring at me from overhead and people nodding their heads in agreement at how badly The Donald is being treated.

At 6:30 there was a class going on in its own area, but I was the only person out on the floor. That made me very happy.

Oh, and Ruth and Hannah? In my comfort zone departure, I did make real progress: I left the parking lot of Anytime Fitness at 7:31 and pulled into my driveway at 7:32!

You were right, cutting my commute down from nine minutes to one is real progress. My comfort zone just got more comfortable.

But we’re still going to Ned’s for dinner tonight.