I hate being cold.
Coming from an Asian household, I grew up with absolutely zero knowledge on how to use a thermostat. It was an unthinkable act to turn up the heat.
"Just put on more clothes"
And even now as a homeowner, old habits die hard. I write this while wearing a hooded jacket, thick winter pajamas, socks, and slippers. Oh and a cup of tea.
I remember my first lunch in high school. I chose to eat outside at the furthest table. And that's where I spent the next 3 years at lunch time. Like the postal system, rain, sleet, hail, or snow, I was out there. And of course as everyone did, I tried to fit in. Many of my peers would wear basketball shorts, so it didn't matter if I was to succumb to frostbite (I definitely googled symptoms because I was scared), I too would have to wear basketball shorts no matter the forecast.
Nowadays, I wear ear muffs in my kitchen as I prepare coffee in the morning and I wear it until my car is finally warmed up, usually about 4 minutes in to my commute. I wear the thickest jacket I can find, and I wear it all day in the office until I'm sweating.
Because I realized I hate being cold
And I had no reason to remain cold
I see all these younger kids who wear t shirts and shorts during the winter, and I find myself repeating all of the annoying things I heard adults say to me so many decades ago.
"Aren't you cold?" "Where's your jacket?" "You're going to catch a cold"
Maybe they feel the same pressure I did. The audacity to overcome Mother Nature. The Spartan-like defiance of my body's pleas and cries for warmth, just to feel some sort of accomplishment. The desire to get noticed by going against the grain. The haughty pride of actively destroying my own comfort for absolutely nothing but this silly construct I created in my head.
Maybe getting older is realizing some thoughts are better left behind.
But of course change of heart, of habits, of paradigms don't happen overnight.
Over the past few months, I've convinced my wife to turn up the thermostat to a nice 68.
One day, I'll live in my house in t-shirt and shorts.
