In order to grow we must get out of our comfort zones. In fact, you can’t possibly grow while staying comfortable. The two literally can’t coexist. The problem with that is our comfort zone is comfy. We’ve made it ours, so we don’t want to leave it. Sometimes your comfort zone is watching Netflix after work until you fall asleep. Sometimes your comfort zone is an extra 20 pounds. And sometimes your comfort zone is a job that you hate. Comfort zones can even be people. And the tough part is knowing you’re going to get uncomfortable and choosing to walk away anyway.
“I have realized; it is during the times I am far outside my element that I experience myself the most. That I see and feel who I really am, the most! I think that’s what a comet is like, you see, a comet is born in the outer realms of the universe! But it’s only when it ventures too close to our sun or to other stars that it releases the blazing “tail” behind it and shoots brazen through the heavens! And meteors become sucked into our atmosphere before they burst like firecrackers and realize that they’re shooting stars! That’s why I enjoy taking myself out of my own element, my own comfort zone, and hurling myself out into the unknown. Because it’s during those scary moments, those unsure steps taken, that I am able to see that I’m like a comet hitting a new atmosphere: suddenly I illuminate magnificently and fire dusts begin to fall off of me! I discover a smile I didn’t know I had, I uncover a feeling that I didn’t know existed in me… I see myself. I’m a shooting star. A meteor shower. But I’m not going to die out. I guess I’m more like a comet then. I’m just going to keep on coming back.”
― C. JoyBell C.
Last week Shaun and I received some news (we will be sharing with you all soon- and no I am not pregnant!) that woke us up. Here we were, gliding along just fine, in our comfort zone and BAM! It was a very stressful week but the best part about all of it is that we have a lot of new opportunities now and we get to decide what we want to do next. It’s going to take a lot of growing, and a lot of being uncomfortable, but it’s going to be so worth it.
Sometimes we fall into a routine and it’s a toxic routine. If you’re working a job knowing you can do better, work harder, or make more money this is a toxic comfort zone. If you’re in a relationship and you know you could be doing better and making more of an effort this is a toxic comfort zone. Any situation in your life where you feel like you could be doing better but you’re not is a bad place to be. I encourage you to look at your life and ask yourself what you are most comfortable with in your life. Most of the time it’s something you could be (or should be) better at.
Find out what that is, push yourself out of your comfort zone, and watch how you succeed. Change begins at the end of your comfort zone.
