Living the Dash – Edition 1

“There’ll be two dates on your tombstone and all your friends will read them, but all that’ll matter is the little dash in between ‘em.”

– Kevin Welch

When was the last time you did something spontaneous? And no, I’m not talking about last night when you decided to eat grilled cheese instead of your usual PB&J. I mean jump-out-of-a-plane, drive-to-another-state-on-a-weekday, shave-your-head spontaneous. Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. It may have been quite a while ago, especially since we’re right in the middle of the semester with assignments getting more serious and deadlines piling up. Spontaneity is more of a first few weeks of school thing, right?

If you’re anything like me, halfway through the semester is when you start to zombify and focus solely on getting things done rather than trying to make life worth living. Personally, I tend to begin over-scheduling myself and forget to budget energy for adventure. I allow myself to fall back into my comfort zone and err on the side of caution rather than take anything that resembles a leap of faith.

Comfort zones are such easy things to return to once life settles into a routine. They represent the known, the comfortable. Here’s the thing, though. While comfort zones live up to their name, they provide no room for growth – an essential part of not just living, but thriving. Comfort zones are not inherently bad, but they do enable us to let our fears take control under the guise of staying “safe.” When you realize the limitations of your comfort zone, you understand how freeing it is to journey beyond its boundaries.

So what does it look like to escape routine and make sure you’re actually living life? That’s a question I hope to answer with this series. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be writing posts on how to reawaken your adventurous spirit and quiet the doubts that grip you. In the meantime, I encourage you to remember the dash and do everything in your power to make it count.