2 miles: After this weekend of conversing with others I have never met and reflecting over 18 hours or so regarding goals and aspirations, rivers of hope and rivers of despair, I can with certainty that sitting in discomfort is something I have not pushed myself to do in quite some time. It's interesting because I think sometimes we get in a routine of life where we are comfortable doing what we are doing. I remember entering a new school five years ago, ending school, transitioning to teaching full time and essentially being thrown into a classroom and learning that I would either sink above the waves or fall below them. I think I entered the classroom everyday that year with chronic stress and a feeling of discomfort-like I was where I should be at the moment but I didn't feel settled. 

Flash forward four years later, I rarely walk into the classroom these days with any anxiety. In fact, that anxiety has mostly transferred to pure joy. I know my routine, exactly when I should arrive and how long I should stay before my brain becomes a muddled puddle of pudding. I know how hard I can push myself, how many activities I can juggle and how to fix the copier when it comes to a crash landing at seven in the morning. I know how to fit exercise in my routine but also get enough sleep (sometimes) and design a lesson or tweak in the middle of my teaching without feeling like I am going to die. 

And though I think this comfort is a good thing, I think a  little bit of discomfort is needed to truly grow yourself. It wasn't the 18 hours of reflecting this weekend that was so emotionally taxing but rather the fact that I was pushed way outside my comfort zone to talk to people I had never met in vocations widely different from my own. I think it is safe to say that sitting in discomfort requires a lot of careful contemplation but also grace. Grace in giving yourself time to adjust. Grace in realizing that stepping outside does not require perfection. Grace in realizing that one should be proud of who they are and what they are doing and that inner strength allows for the stepping outside of the box to become a bit easier. Grace in realizing that sometimes we should push ourselves to go in different places we never thought imaginable. Though sitting in discomfort is never fun-it signifies that true thinking is beginning and that a journey is about to unfold-somewhere.