COASTING ALONG Living outside your comfort zone

Coasting along with LIBBY GREIG

Living outside your comfort zone ...

Ihave just realised that this year (or even next) I won’t be trekking to the Base Camp at Mount Everest. Not that I had actual plans to, but the option was always there. (‘Dream on’, I hear you say?) So, I have started to think about how exactly I was going to challenge myself, and I wondered if my comfort zone had become a little too comfortable.

I asked around to see what other people were doing. Everyone is different it seems, and it turned out to be a very interesting survey indeed.

So you want to live a little? Here are some suggestions.

A friend has taken up a live drawing class that is extending her drawing skills and says it is something she never thought of doing. Her appreciation of anatomy has also increased greatly. She says she now knows the real meaning of ‘pressing the flesh’.

Another mate has dived into a chocolate-making course that has extended her knowledge and waistline all at the same time. Ingenuous. She is now moving on to macarons – making her a welcome guest when she wants to show off the fruits of her labour.

None of these activities seemed too dangerous, so when a group of friends signed up to go camping and abseiling in the Blue Mountains I must say I was impressed. I was also a little envious though not so much that I didn’t stay at a safe distance in case they invited me along. None of them seemed particularly spry, but they limbered up at a climbing wall – using their government vouchers. I’m still waiting to hear the full results, but given none of them made the TV news or returned in a helicopter, I assume it was a huge success.

Should I take up flying? That would certainly take me out of my comfort zone as well as out of the state. In the end, I decided it would be terrifying to anyone who has driven with me.

So I decided on another form of transport. The kayak. I consulted a good friend who has recently acquired one and who may have decided that this perhaps was an easy way to get to New Zealand. Anyway, she happily gave me the lowdown on the big splash.

The problem it seems with a kayak is not when you are on the water, but in getting in and out of it. Given that water is not exactly a stable surface, the thought of tying up a wobbly kayak alongside a wharf was definitely beyond the realms of science fiction. She also found that the alternative of getting the kayak back off the beach and on to the car roof rack a challenge. The addition of two hunky men in helping to get the kayak (and her) out of the water sounds like a good idea. Is there a dating site for this? Looking at my friend who is looking very good, this may be a comfort zone worth considering.

My list of potential activities is growing by the day. Given my readiness to argue a point, joining a political party was suggested to me. Now, I have always loved a good party, but looking at the guest list is a bit daunting. Perrottet and the Pirouetters, Scottie and the Marketing Team, or Kermit and the Greens?

Perhaps I could become a grey nomad, but I gather the waiting list for a caravan is two years. But then again, I do have the hair for it. I must say, the thrill of my hair turning grey is fodder for a whole other column, and it is certainly out of my comfort zone.

Learning a new language seems beyond me, skydiving is so far out there for me that I might as well sign up to become a space traveller. At least you may get to meet a couple of billionaires that way.

Perhaps I’m looking at this all wrong. Perhaps a nice easy comfort zone is just what one needs at a time like this. Really most of us are living in challenging times already, so if you are well and you still fit into your pre-Covid jeans, perhaps be grateful for a bit of comfort and just forget which zone you are in.

I have perfected my soufflé-making and, though hardly daring … it is comfort food.