Beyond our comfort zones

A few years ago, I initiated a personal policy to challenge myself to do one thing a year that really scares me. My ‘scary thing’ for 2005 was to complete a 7 day field course at Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS). I had heard about the program from a friend I admired and it took me two years to muster up the courage to go for it. BOSS prides itself on teaching their students how to live in the wilderness with limited supplies in a simulated survival experience. Basically, we hiked in the desert for a week without the basic camping comforts of sleeping bags, backpacks, stoves, eating utensils, or tents/tarps. So, I had to learn to whittle my own spoon out of wood, make fire with a spindle and bow (which, of course, I carved myself), and create a backpack out of a wool blanket and parachute cord. It was, without question, one of the hardest weeks of my life, both physically and mentally. The point of my policy is not to torture myself (although I did swear to never do survival school again:), but to push myself beyond my comfort zone. And when I actually do the ‘scary thing’ I thought I couldn’t do…I feel pretty darn good about myself! What I did to get this goal done: allowed myself to dream of doing something wild, set aside sacred time and funds for my ‘scary thing’ policy, but the most important part was just showing up and hanging in there. -Sasha