Will We Ever Take Chances Outside Our Comfort Zone, Freely?

The comfort zone is a safe haven for most of us. But what we fail to realize is that our comfort zone, right now, used to be outside our comfort zone, in the past. Remember your first assignment, interview, or job, for example. It was outside your comfort zone. But you did it and you got good at it, or somewhat good, over time. Now that has become your new comfort zone. You are comfortable in the position. You can do your job with your eyes closed, so to speak.

We increase our comfort zone mostly when the ‘’knife hits the bone’’. And we are forced, or just need a change so bad, we will do anything to have it. But our emotional comfort zone is something different. We are afraid of feeling too much or losing the love or friendships we already have.

Sometimes we stay in friendships or relationships far too long. Long after they have stopped serving us or making us feel good. Which is sad, but we all do it. We keep them close because we are afraid of letting go.

I remember once when I was watching a video about a cancer survivor on YouTube. And I like after watching, sometimes, to go into comments and see what people wrote. And most, would be other cancer survivors or people still fighting cancer. But something caught my eye. One comment that would ‘’change’’ my life. It was from a sixty-five-year-old lady. Who said…

• ‘’Your video has inspired me to stop letting people in my life take advantage of me’’

I was speechless for a few moments. I said ‘’I am doing that!’’. Not the, letting people take advantage of me, part. But I had goals that I kept for a long time in my head. I acted a little bit on them. As I am sure this woman has done all her life. And then when it got hard. And I was at the edge of my comfort zone, I reverted back.

And no real progress took place!

Now, she has been trying to stop people from taking advantage of her for a long time. This, I am certain, was not the first time she realized it. But even at 65 yrs. old… She could not do it! She could not stop people take advantage of her. Probably, those people were ‘’her family and friends’’ and she could not bear pushing them away. Because that would mean she had to go and acquire new friends and family. And emotionally that was outside her comfort zone.

So, she settled for the lesser evil. And basically, threw her life away.

Do you think she changed her life after that video? I think not! I think she really meant it in the moment, but failed to follow through the next day.

We fail to recognize we are doing this, until we are on our deathbeds. That is where people, as I’ve seen from studies and interviews, regret the things they haven’t done. They don’t regret the things they’ve done, but the ones they didn’t. So that, is both profound as it is sad. Because if we go in this same way, like the woman above. Very little change will ensue in our life.

And we will regret too many things on our deathbeds!