Is it ever too cold to take the plunge?

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the beach. Any excuse I can find, I'm there. There's something about the way the salt air smells. The feel of sand in between my toes. The wind blowing my hair into my eyes. The calling of the birds. All of the little critters scurrying in the sand.

But right now, the closest I can get to the ocean is the local pool. Not even close to being the same, but at least it's outdoors. However, because it's winter there's a huge dome covering it. Which has resulted in the water being too hot, well at least for me. Over the last couple of months, I've watched as person after person, entered the pool area and dip their hand in the water. Then make some kind of face - from a mild frown to out-and-out disgust. Then every last one of them made a hasty retreat.

Yeah, I get it. I'm not from here. What is cold to me isn't to others. I wear shorts when it's sixty degrees outside and everyone else is bundled up in seven layers and shivering. But in life, shouldn't we at least be willing to take a few risks? Put in more than a finger or two to see if the water is at least tolerable? After all, sometimes the biggest payoffs come from taking that leap. By jumping in with both feet we might land where we always should've been.

I've been talking with quite a few people lately who did this because of the pandemic. They quit/lost their jobs and had to start over again. And ended up turning a passion into a business. And none of them would've had any success if they'd been timid, said 'this is too hard' or 'this is too much of a risk'. Nope, they gave their new ventures everything they had. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Yet the journey was still worth the effort.

So what is that thing you need to dive into today?