"Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new." --Brian Tracy
I have to be honest. The lack of a new 'try this thursday' is due to my lack of anything to recommend you try. I'm sure I could tell you about a restaurant or bar I frequent, a movie to see or album to listen to, but frankly I wanted to discuss something different for my next Thursday discussion. And lucky you, I have decided on such a topic. The dreaded comfort zone. Yes, we all have them and I'm sure we all love them, but let's be real. A comfort zone is just a way to rest on your laurels.
As any reader of this blog will know, I'm not a fan of change. Mainly because I hate not being in control of everything in my life but also because I, much like everyone else, hates not knowing. However, as I look back on my short life, I realize that my best and most memorable, not to say most beneficial, moments come from those times when I was extremely uncomfortable. Living in Paris for a semester, barely speaking the language when I got there, and coming back to America an incredibly independent woman is something for which I will be forever grateful. Knowing that, with the help of a handy map and my two girlfriends, we could navigate cities across the continent that spoke German or Czech and still find our hostel was pretty incredible.
That's not to say it wasn't filled with anxiety. I got my first stress rash post spring break, after constantly worrying that we wouldn't find where we needed to go. But it was one hell of an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. Moving to a new-ish city to start my working, adult life was another one of those times that I left the comfort zone. It would have been easy to stay in Houston, live at home and save money while working in the city I grew up in. But I knew I wanted a challenge and a change so I knew but had never lived in. It's definitely been interesting and has made me transition to adulthood that much faster.
Too often I see people sticking inside the safe, secure walls of their box. Get out of it and do something that you've never done before. You can start off easy - talk to a stranger the next time you're out or go see a movie alone, and soon enough you'll be pushing the boundaries of your box farther than you ever thought you could. Not all experiences might be pleasant, but you don't learn from comfortable situations. It's the other ones that stick out and stick in your brain.
As any reader of this blog will know, I'm not a fan of change. Mainly because I hate not being in control of everything in my life but also because I, much like everyone else, hates not knowing. However, as I look back on my short life, I realize that my best and most memorable, not to say most beneficial, moments come from those times when I was extremely uncomfortable. Living in Paris for a semester, barely speaking the language when I got there, and coming back to America an incredibly independent woman is something for which I will be forever grateful. Knowing that, with the help of a handy map and my two girlfriends, we could navigate cities across the continent that spoke German or Czech and still find our hostel was pretty incredible.
That's not to say it wasn't filled with anxiety. I got my first stress rash post spring break, after constantly worrying that we wouldn't find where we needed to go. But it was one hell of an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. Moving to a new-ish city to start my working, adult life was another one of those times that I left the comfort zone. It would have been easy to stay in Houston, live at home and save money while working in the city I grew up in. But I knew I wanted a challenge and a change so I knew but had never lived in. It's definitely been interesting and has made me transition to adulthood that much faster.
Too often I see people sticking inside the safe, secure walls of their box. Get out of it and do something that you've never done before. You can start off easy - talk to a stranger the next time you're out or go see a movie alone, and soon enough you'll be pushing the boundaries of your box farther than you ever thought you could. Not all experiences might be pleasant, but you don't learn from comfortable situations. It's the other ones that stick out and stick in your brain.
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