Missoula, MT

A very wise young woman, our daughter Melissa, gave me a magnet with an inspirational quote as a gift when we began this journey.

I have been thinking a lot about this because Rich and I have purposely reached the end of our comfort zone.

We’ve had structured plans through today. Stay here two days, there four days. Visit with family during this week,  friends next week.

Starting tomorrow, we’re traveling differently. No planning multiple weeks out. Other than knowing we have to be back in Boise by October 5, we have no agenda.

For us, the king and queen of anal obsessive compulsiveness,  this is a huge step out of our comfort zone.

Our son, Richie, travels internationally extensively. He’s been to all seven continents, and over 35 countries. Usually he plans many aspects of his travel in advance, but he approached his last trip differently. He bought his ticket two days before he left and literally flew by the seat of his pants. He came back from that trip a changed person. He’s more accepting, more introspective, and more self reliant.

Always supremely intuitive and psychic, Melissa knew where this journey would emotionally take us before we did. She gave me the quote two months ago, but I haven’t been ready to put it out until today. It’s been hidden, shoved behind a bunch of papers. Today I hung it in a very prominent place where I will see it multiple times per day.

Thanks to Melissa’s  inspiration and Richie’s examples, we are ready to step out of our comfort zone.

More about comfort zones in later posts…