I clearly remember the first time I saw this quote. It was at the East West Bookshop in Mountain View, the city next to Sunnyvale in the San Francisco South Bay where I used to live. And the quote quite hits the nail on the head.

Looking back, the experiences and moments where I felt most alive and present in this world where moments where I was faced with discomfort and pain, sometimes (and luckily more often than not) paired with joy and elation. Climbing Mt Rainier with my good friend Ethan, attempting to climb Mt Shasta (even though I did not summit), completing my first marathon, finishing my first official ultramarathon.

All these things had nothing to do with being comfortable.

They were about stepping outside of that box one too often draws around oneself and doesn’t dare to leave. Because we are scared of the unknown, we don’t want to risk anything and so we stay where we are, with the familiar, with the mundane, with the routine.

When all this time, life, in its truest sense, is happening over there. Outside that box.

Go dare and dip your toe into unchartered territory once in a while. You might be surprised by what awaits you on the other side.