When’s The Next Time I’ll Be This Close To…

Recently I’ve been using a new expression to add more resilience, spontaneity, and adventure into my life. Feeling like I’m fully alive is one of the things I’m pursuing most in my life right now, and I’ve been choosing to do things that are memorable to create more life-giving experiences.

The expression is "When’s the next time I’ll be this close to (insert blank)."

Asking myself this question has pushed me one level further than I was planning to go. It pops the bubble of comfort that I find myself naturally staying in and puts me in more vitalizing spaces. There are two examples in particular I’d like to share.

A few weeks ago I went to Atlanta for a Running event called Runningman. Basically it’s a wellness festival where lots of vendors, health related activities, and camping are crammed into a mile long trail loop. On the Saturday of the event everyone runs the loop as many times as they’d like to. I trained for a half-marathon, which I had never done before, and when I completed it I felt an urge to continue on. What if I doubled it? When’s the next time I’ll be this close to running a full marathon? So I did. 

And as I was running that, I learned that a 50k was only 5 miles beyond a marathon. So when I finished it, I asked myself “When’s the next time I’m going to be this close to doing 50k?” Well it requires that I run a marathon again… So I completed another 5 laps. I achieved a physical feat that I didn’t even know was possible simply because I used a mantra that pushed me outside my comfort zone.

Another example - I’ve driven the 500 mile stretch of the 5 freeway between Northern and Southern California dozens of times, and many times I’ve considered stopping off at a random lake in the middle of trip called Pyramid Lake. As I was pulling up to the exit for it I asked myself “When’s the next time I’m going to be this close to it?” So I pulled off and made my way to the sand. Then when I got to the sand and enjoyed the view, I asked myself “When’s the next time I’m going to be this close to swimming in Pyramid Lake?” Well it would require that I disrupt my trip another time. So I went in!

The point is, there’s more life to capture in the moments we already have. But fear and excuses keep us living at our current level. When we push just past it and invest that little bit of extra time or effort, we experience disproportionate returns.