Living Outside The Box

I've got a problem. Well, more specifically, I've got a callous. It's on the ball of my foot and the skin is trying to grow back as best it can. This has caused me to walk quite gingerly for the past couple of days, and as one might imagine has garnered questions about my impingement. What happened to my foot? The simple answer is just a missing piece of skin on my foot. How? I ran a 5k. What kind of shoes was I wearing that would lead to such a terrible end result to my foot? None! Yes, I ran a 5k barefoot. Some on grassy ground, but a majority was on a concrete path. After this explanation some people are dumbfounded that I would do such a thing, others are intrigued, and others are downright appalled. What does any of this have to do with you? I'm so glad you asked.


I love running barefoot. My legs, feet, ankles, and joints have never felt better and I owe a great portion of that to doing more things in my life barefoot. Moving on from touting benefits, and there are many, of being barefoot, I want to talk about the benefits of living outside the box. Similar to the over popularized "thinking outside of the box" concept, this is actually applying it to living. Case in point would be me running the 5k barefoot. I've been going barefoot for quite a while, but have never done any distance runs sans shoes. The opportunity presented itself in a charitable event where I could finally put the sole to the road and I did not hesitate. Afterwards, many of my friends were mocking me and jumping at the chance to tell me why people use shoes ad nauseam, and surely now I must be convinced of that fact. I am still convinced that barefoot is the way to go for me, but how can they be so sure that shoes are the way for them? Can you know running with shoes is better without the experience of going barefoot? This is where living outside the box comes into play. Maybe you've been thinking about running barefoot, or going sailing, or insert whatever it is you've been secretly thinking about. My question is why haven't you done it yet? What are the forces holding you back, and are they real? Are you building up all the unknowns in your mind to such an extent that you've become paralyzed trying to decide?

The unknown is where true living really takes place. Think back to some of the more memorable moments in your life. Was it at work, or doing a task that you've mastered over and over again? Or was it jumping out of a plane? Maybe carving down a mountain face you'd been eyeing up all winter? Living outside the box is a simple way to start embracing what really excites or scares you. The Taoist in me is asking; can you know pleasure without pain? This is a simple concept that can be applied to nearly any aspect in your life. I choose to train my body physically on an almost daily basis for many reasons, but mainly because I have also experienced a very sedentary lifestyle and prefer being physically active. I've run with shoes, and also without them. I prefer being without. I've gone through periods of accumulating lots of possessions, and now living a very minimalistic lifestyle. All these different experiences have helped guide me towards what I consider to be a healthy and rewarding lifestyle. I've been afraid a number of times, and born anew after conquering that fear. So, how do we get started living outside the box? Start small. Use your off hand for everyday tasks. Try an exotic food you've often wondered about. Climb a tree. Go barefoot. Just have fun, and discover something new. What are you waiting for?