A couple days ago, a friend and I were talking about places in our lives where we felt most gratitude for comfort.  I mentioned that i felt truly rich when i stepped into a hot shower.  5 minutes later, we decided we would start our first cold shower challenge :)  

The idea is to invite small discomfort and inconvenience into our lives to see how we can grow our capacity to 'be with it' and respond with love.  We would plan for 3 minutes in the cold.  The first day, I was too scared to use the shower at all!  The challenge is based on days not on usage so thought i found a loophole! :)  Second day, I have too many meetings to look disheveled, and I step in.  

It is cold, and first 90 seconds is just land of pain.  Then it slowly starts to change.  I get to the 3 minute mark and my body's reaction to the cold has shifted.  Even though I sometimes forget, it was a powerful experience that things are always changing.  I have a few more days to go in this experiment, but already liking the direction its headed.