“Change happens outside of your comfort zone.”
I anticipate you are familiar with this quote or some variation of it. It’s a quote I had in my fitness journal, used on my training sheets, and wrote on my mirror for encouragement.
As true as this has proven to be, there is a quote I read recently that more accurately reflects my thoughts and the journey I am on.
“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” Shannon Thompson, veteran and leader volunteer with The Mission Continues, shares this saying from his father.
I’m not sure if my comfort zone has always been a beautiful, or even a safe, place, but it has been where I have returned to time and again. Why? Because it was familiar. And familiar gives a sense of safety, security, and solace.
I’d like to give a nudge and challenge you.
When was the last time you were uncomfortable? What caused you to feel the discomfort, and how did you handle it?
I hope that these questions will move you toward finding out where the discomfort lead you.
I have been forced to live well outside my comfort zone, especially since my husband passed. I have had to learn to navigate a life I never anticipated and had no guidelines for. I expect you have likely experienced circumstances you had not anticipated, as well.
I encourage you to take a deep breath, find your support people, and get uncomfortable. I do not believe we, you and I, can unearth who we are–who we are meant to be–until we embrace the discomfort and find where it leads us.
It’s worth revisiting the quote above, particularly the end of it “… nothing ever grows there.” Meaning within your comfort zone.
I am learning that when I acknowledge what makes me uncomfortable and seek out things that have made me uncomfortable, I am more open and able to see previously accepted and established patterns for what they are.
Comfort may have sheltered me, but getting uncomfortable has helped me grow. It guided me in getting out of my own way and brought me to this journey from asking who am I to stating Who I Am.
My beautiful and unique friend, may you get uncomfortable today and find yourself not only growing but blooming.
Xoxo,
Judy
