Thought of the Day: Getting Too Close

February 04, 2026

The Thought of the Day isn’t trying to teach you anything new. It’s reminding you of something you already know but sometimes pretend you don’t.

“If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water.” C.S. Lewis

That line works because it doesn’t moralize. It doesn’t say you should or shouldn’t do anything. It just describes how the world works.

Outcomes follow proximity.

We like to believe intention matters more than position. That wanting something is enough. That we can hover near the edges and still get the benefits without the consequences. But that’s not how heat works. And it’s not how water works either.

Warmth requires closeness. So does risk.

Most of the time, we’re not confused about why something keeps happening. We’re just reluctant to admit how close we’ve chosen to stand to it. Near the noise. Near the stress. Near the habit that keeps repeating itself. Near the thing we say we’re done with but never quite walk away from.

The Thought of the Day doesn’t ask you to move. It just asks you to notice.

What are you standing near right now?

Not in theory. Not in aspiration. In practice.

Because whether it’s comfort or chaos, growth or burnout, peace or exhaustion, proximity is doing more work than motivation ever will.

If you want to read the full reflection that pairs this Thought of the Day with today’s Question, you can find it here in the Thought of the Day and Question of the Day: Getting Too Close.

You can also explore how this idea shows up across time in the Thought of the Day archive.

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