Just returned from a long swim on a winter day in Oahu. I have found a sand bar fairly far out in the ocean, about a 15 minute swim, but when I get out there I can rest and by the time I reach it the area is shallow enough to stand so I can rest. Fish all around, no people or boats as it was early and winter. It is quiet, serine and a bit scary to be alone so far out. But only in my mind. There has never been a shark attack and if the waves are up or the current strong, I will not venture so far out.

I have always tested the waters. Pushed what I consider the comfort envelope and gone a bit further that one would consider comfortable. It has done me well in life. It shows me where the boundaries of things are. It gets outside the general public and the grass does seem a bit greener there or perhaps the fruit hang a bit lower there.

I traveled to China and stayed there longer then what was planned in the same theory. I found my sand bar, that being Shanghai, a city that had enough comforts of the west but that was still a bit out of the comfort range of a southern boy from Atlanta. From my sandbar I pushed on imaginary walls, I ventured into businesses that I was told were off-limits to westerners. First journalism, a business that I enjoyed but was not that good at and was very limited in what I could write about, and then real estate. I feel lucky to have found a trade I enjoy, and worked long enough at it that it became successful.

I find swimming in the ocean similar. I thoroughly enjoy it, the mask I wear allows me to see another world down there. Old volcanic growth, corals and colourful fish while also getting much needed fresh air and exercise.