Three Ways to Be Cool

Styles are demanding. One year, pants need to be baggy enough to hide a 2-liter soda; the next, they need to be skin tight to meet the current fad. Many try to be "cool" by fitting in, wearing the right clothes, going to the right places, and using the latest slang words. Others try to be cool by standing out, and now, purple hair is about as common as watermelon in July. I don't know what cool is supposed to mean, but I will tell you three ways to be truly cool.

1. Hike in the Winter

Several months ago, I hiked on the Appalachian Trail with a friend, but this was no ordinary hike. We started shortly before midnight and hiked a mile or two by moonlight before setting up camp. Bitter winds quickly sapped any surplus heat we made, and the temperature plummeted into the single digits. Thankfully, I had backpacked enough in varied environments to know how to prepare. My friend survived the night, and I thrived, mummified in my sleeping bag. My experience and preparation helped me stay cool under the pressure of trying to stay warm. It was a cool trip in nearly every way except the time I almost broke a sweat from vigorous hiking.

2. Take a Cold Shower

Recently, I worked out for 15 minutes immediately after waking. Then, I took a cold shower. The best way to enter a frigid water is to do it without hesitation. It took my breath away, and I focused on breathing control for the first thirty seconds. Eventually, the water felt strangely warm as my skin adjusted, and when I finally put on clean, warm clothes, I was focused to conquer my day.

3. Let Yourself Shiver

What happens when you step outside without a coat in freezing temperatures? You feel cold and begin to shiver. In the process of trying to stay warm, you feel miserable and cannot wait to get warmed up. But what if you would just let yourself get cold instead of fighting it?

I often do this and find it an interesting mental game. What I fight is miserable, but what I embrace is tolerable. When I start getting cold, I try not to fight it. I allow my body to shiver, and soon, I forget the cold. I have started to apply this mental game to other areas of life. Some battles I fight with everything I have, but more often, I find it better to calmly accept what I am given.

So, if you want to be cool, you should stop trying so hard to fit in. You should stop fighting the coldness of rejection and be okay with being different. And you should hike in the winter. You will be truly cool yet strangely warmed at the same time. And if you don't like my humor, keep your cool.