Not Hawaii
What's sparking joy for me lately? Working out outside, in the cold. Yes, really.
I'm originally from Hawaii, where it's almost always T-shirt weather. But I live in Chicago, and it's winter here right now.
As a dyed-in-the-wool fitness dork, I don't like to let coldness and snow get in the way of what I want to do. I'm a rucking enthusiast (rucking = hiking with a weighted pack), and rucking takes place outdoors, whatever the weather. That includes when it's cold, freezing, or even frigid.
Darn low basement ceilings!
True, I also do non-rucking workouts in my snow-free basement. But due to the low ceiling, if I want to do certain exercises, such as pull-ups or lifting weights over my head, I have to go outside in my yard. Like this:
I don't actually enjoy being cold, and I'm definitely not one of those "hot blooded", no-hat-or-socks people who don't seem to feel the cold.
However, I figured out a while ago that if I decided to like cold weather, and expose myself to it often, it actually ended up feeling much less uncomfortable and more bearable. Not just bearable, but even beautiful. Exhilarating. Whereas if I hated winter, only exercised indoors, and only exposed myself to perfectly climate-controlled temperatures until spring came and the weather turned "nice" again, it made me less tolerant of the cold, and not quite as physically fit. And winter still lasted the same amount of time.
Follow this trail to the discomfort zone.
This doesn't have to do only with rucking or cold weather.
The act of confronting our relationship with our belongings--which is really the act of confronting how we want to live our lives--can be uncomfortable.
It can be hard to leave our comfort zone because it's familiar, and the area outside that zone looks different than we're accustomed to. Just thinking about going out there can cause us to recoil, to stay where we are, even though we're not satisfied with where we are. But it's hard to make any progress at anything if we stay huddled within those boundaries. It's hard to pursue the lives we truly desire, to recognize the things, activities, ideas, and people that bring us joy and let go of those that no longer serve us--if we don't look beyond the fence.
I'm not saying you have to be into winter rucking. Believe me, I understand that's not for everybody. I'm saying get uncomfortable with being uncomfortable some of the time--whatever form that might take for you.
If you've made yourself go outside and you're standing there shivering in the cold and you start moving around, you warm up. You might even start sweating and have to remove a layer of clothing. You might start enjoying being out there, and noticing the beauty of winter. The solitude of having the whole trail to yourself. Naked trees revealing their true shapes against a grey-white sky. The particular blue color found only in shadows cast on snow. The way the winter sun touches the ice, turning it into molten gold.
If you're okay with experiencing a bit of discomfort, you recalibrate your sense not just of what's comfortable, but what's possible.
Winter has its own beauty.