A few years, I had to decline serving on a panel because I was going to be out of town. I explained that my husband and I were traveling to the Outer Banks. In January.

“You’re going to the beach in January?!? Have you lost all common sense?” the panel organizer wrote back.

“I know that sensible people go to the beach in warm weather,” I told her, “but I’m shaking off my sensibleness at this stage in my life.” A friend who was on the email thread replied that she thought “Shaking Off My Sensibleness” should be the title of my next book.

To tell the truth, I hate hot weather and crowds, so I don’t like the beach in the summer. I love walking a desolate beach in a cold breeze when I’m wrapped up in a coat, a scarf, a hat, and layers of clothing. So sensible or not, I visited the Outer Banks in January.

I don’t know whether I’ll ever write another book, but I do think that my friend is right: as I approach 60, I think “shaking off my sensibleness” should be my mantra about a lot of things. The sensible, the safe, and the measured actions have their place, but sometimes the less sensible actions yield great rewards like clear blue skies and winter sunrises over the ocean.

I’m looking for other ways to occasionally shake off my sensibleness.

I’m looking for suggestions, so let me know if you have any ideas. Or better yet, share a story of how you’ve given up your own sensibleness.