It is now March. Spring is supposed to be on its way. But with nighttime temperatures in the 20’s and snow on the ground in the morning, Winter doesn’t seem to want to give up very easily this year. Weird! However, I am thankful for the moisture. Water is hard to get too much of here in Idaho.
Last week, I mentioned that Cathy and I had traveled to San Antonio to attend the American Hospital Association’s Rural Hospital Conference. This is an annual conference that is attended by small hospitals across the country to allow hospital administrators and trustees a chance to keep up with education, new developments, legislation, and to network with other people in similar positions.
Part of the reason I like to attend these conferences as a trustee, is that the information often has applications to other areas as well.
As an aspect of the education goal of the conference, there is always a speaker for one of the general sessions who talks about life lessons. This year’s speaker was a gentleman named Michael Easter who is a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It turns out that Michael is also an adventurer who had a friend talk him into taking a trip to Alaska.
On this particular trip, he described getting into a vintage airplane somewhere in the middle of Alaska, in a hunched over position to allow the pilot, three passengers, and their gear to fit in this plane for an hour and a half flight to the barren tundra literally in the middle of nowhere.
The plan was to stay out on the tundra in survival mode…for a month! No communication, no cell service, no outside input of any kind. They apparently had cell phones and solar chargers because Mr. Easter was able to take some video of their experience.
Despite a lack of snow on the ground, it was obviously cold and windy. And BORING. One of the videos was of one guy reading aloud. He was reading in a monotone without feeling or interest. It was simply something to do. He was reading the list of ingredients on one of the food packets. Talk about desperate for entertainment. It was somewhat pathetic to listen to.
The speaker then went on to talk about killing a caribou when he had never shot anything before in his life. It was a very emotional experience.
Overall, their Alaskan adventure could be summed up in two words, uncomfortable and boring.
The last picture was one of the speaker running to meet the plane when it came to pick them up. It reminded me of the classic movie scene of two sweethearts running in slow motion through a field of wildflowers toward each other.
He went on to describe how wonderful the flight back was, hunched over and all. How the podunk motel near the airfield had a fantastic shower and the bed was oh sooooo comfortable. And how pleasant the airline flight home was in coach with three seats to a row. It was all a matter of perspective.
He then went on to make the main points of his talk. He showed a circle which represented our comfort zones. Anything within that zone is pleasant. Anything outside is uncomfortable. The circle is what we are used to.
But, he went on to explain that if we step outside the circle and do the uncomfortable, the uncomfortable starts to become comfortable and we have expanded our circle.
He also said he learned the value of being bored. It is when we are bored that our minds have a chance to wander. We think about things we normally don’t take the time to think about. This is where creativity comes from. It is also when we allow ourselves to think about the deep things of life.
As we combine stepping outside of comfort zones and thinking about the deeper things, the more comfortable we are with life. Smaller issues do not upset the way they used to. The world has expanded. There is a different perspective.
So, next time you have a chance to do something different, or are bored, think of it as a blessing. You never know how it might improve your life unless you go there.
Well, that’s it for this week. Weiser is such a great place to live, work, and play. It doesn’t even take perspective to figure that out.
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