I’m not particularly fond of the beach. I don’t know what it is, really; the smell, the amount of people on any given day, the questionable hygiene of going to the place, or the trash that seems to be littered throughout are a couple of things that come to mind. I can’t actually say when I developed this distaste for the beach, but I do remember it being something that I despised since the third grade.

Typically, when someone has a disdain for a place, they usually go out of their way to avoid it, which is only natural. I do the same thing with a few other places that I don’t have the warmest heart for, but the beach is an exception. I try to go to the beach whenever I can.

It’s something I decided on consciously and through a good state of mind. I wasn’t under heavy duress, or experiencing some mid-teenage epiphany crisis that resulted in the creation of the adult(ish) me. No, I did this because of a homework assignment.

The assignment asked each of us to think of something that takes us out of our comfort zones and try to do that thing. Some people chose going to a public place, others chose randomly kissing someone they liked. I decided to go to the beach, and I hated it, or at least I thought I did.

I won‘t bother with the details (it was a pretty average day in retrospect), but I can say that I didn’t experience a life-altering event, or some sort of epiphany that changed my views, but rather, I experienced being at a place I’m quite uncomfortable at, and I loved every minute of it. Say what you will about people telling you to do things outside of your comfort zones, but they’re right when it comes to how it’ll make you feel.

It’s a sense of excitement, fear, and pleasure wrapped up in this idea that you’ll never do this sort of thing again, and when you do, it won’t ever be the same. At least that’s the best way I can describe it. I now take a trip to the beach every once in a blue moon, usually because a friend wants to go and I’m reluctantly dragged along.

I still dislike the place, whether it’s because of the smell, the people, or the trash littered throughout. I know that’ll never change, but there’s a sense of clarity that washes over me when I go. Getting out of your comfort zone is important, as it helps you see who you are when confronted with something that isn’t easy to deal with. That was the lesson I got out of this assignment though, and it’s an assignment I constantly finish.