The digital tune buzzed distinctively in the stillness of the quiet air. My automatic subconscious arose to the alarm, even before my conscious self had turned away from the dreams. Fingers drummed around my bed time novels, eye drops and landed on the phone. Every muscle of my body was completely aware – today was the day. Yet, ignoring this realisation, my muscles pressed hard on the snooze button. I couldn’t let this happen, not again. Fighting hard against the will of my body, I put on my gear. The tension was thickening with every yes I said to my body’s no. I raced down the flight of stairs, as my subconscious yelled at me, crying in pain for the lies I had told it. It was too dark to be walking. My eyes were bruised from the bulbs it had to open to. I braved a step outside and the gear felt completely futile. The cold winds blew across my face, freezing my nose and shaking up my teeth. I faced the deep, dark, volume of liquid. I had to jump in, despite the weight of the warm blanket of comfort draped across my back, soothing me in this cold weather. After 15 minutes of standing tall, I finally took the lunge. The thrill of going against my body was real, I could feel the shock sink deep into every muscle. My mind was submerged in confusion, for this wasn’t a habit. This wasn’t normal, routine, comfortable. This was an adventure and nobody was prepared for it. At 5’o clock in the morning, my body and mind had no clue I was actually going to go through with jumping into my pool.
What I realised on this day was something extremely crucial and simple. While we might think our idea of an adventure needs to be extremely outrageous, daring and packed in remote locations, falling from high buildings, trekking on steep slopes or camping in dense forests, the real idea of adventure can be found even in your own bedroom. What’s an adventure anyway? It’s getting out of your comfort zone. That doesn’t mean you need to physically get to a location. The comfort zone is in our minds. Any action, thought or feeling that throws us into discomfort is outside this selected area. Getting out of your comfort zone can be as simple as thinking about things you never like thinking about, such as your future plans, your investment options or the job you don’t want to lose. How about just putting your body in a state of physical discomfort that required 100 push-ups in your room as opposed to running a marathon in Greece in the harsh summer. To really test yourself, you don’t need your excuses of not finding the right adventure, to stop you. An adventure doesn’t need to be exciting; it just needs to be uncomfortable. Since you’ll be spending days in your room, why not challenge yourself to really find a true adventure within your four bedroom walls? Hey, it could even be as simple as getting up at 5 am. Trust me, that’s a scarier journey for my mind than playing with a cobra was.
The author can be contacted on Instagram @sincerelysanah
Sanah Thakur
