Seemed like a good idea at the time

Imagine a warm, sunny evening. The sun's last rays stretch through the backyard before dissapearing under a orange glow horizon. I had just read a blog from Alastair Humphries explaining that beginning the day with a cold shower was a great thing to do. The idea is that, if the first thing you do in a day puts you into an uncomfortable position, think going from a warm bed to a cold shower, then anything that you face for the rest of the day will appear easy. Great idea I thought. A nice challenge for me. In fact, I have an outdoor shower- why don't I try to shower outside for a year. (I must say at this point, I do have warm water out there, sort of a deluxe outdoor shower- I'm not that crazy). So there it was, a decision to do something on a consistent basis, for a whole year.

Imagine, four months later, pitch black, horizontal wind and cold rain, and I'm outside having a shower (both man made and natural), thinking, 'it seemed like a good idea at the time.' It was. It still is. In fact, it seems like an even better idea now. It is more challenging to walk past, towel in hand, a perfectly working indoor shower to gale force wind outside. It is challenging to get out there when I'm feeling unwell. But it is only a little thing, simple really, that reminds me that being unfomfortable is ok, good even. That sticking to a plan, no matter how small, is important. That carrying something through is a nice thing to do.