Generally speaking, when we think about our comfort zones, we're thinking about a place where we feel safe and secure. But what we often forget is that the comfort zone can be a dark and dangerous place where we unwittingly shield ourselves from personal growth and development. We miss out on new and exciting experiences because we're afraid to stray too far from our happiest of places. Further, renaming our comfort zones as such - to call them our happy places - can intensify the damage a thousand fold. The words 'comfortable' and 'happy' aren't even remotely close to being interchangeable, yet we do it all the time. I do it all the time. And this is a lesson I should've learned a long time ago...
Now, to say that I'm living within my comfort zone at present is just about as far from the truth as one could possibly traverse. Anyone who's ever been in a similar situation has almost certainly entertained the thought of going back. Curling up into a nice, warm little ball and drifting off into what I might go so far today as to call a state of hibernation. I've been in these situations before - countless times - and I've entertained such thoughts to be sure. But not this time. This time, I feel differently. Like the first time I stepped into a toy store as a child. The world just looks alive - busting at the seams with color, light, and life! To pass up an opportunity to explore this world would be a grave mistake... so off I go!
I don't know how often my readers go on adventures of their own, but I encourage you if it's been awhile to maybe give it a go. Try something simple - like walking your dog without shoes, or going to a different grocery store. If you go for the latter, try buying something you wouldn't normally buy. Or better yet, don't buy anything you've ever bought before. Change brands. Change habits. Change hearts. Change lives! I'd be willing to bet every ounce of my self-worth that the bigger the change, the bigger the adventure. They say you only live once. But I dare to say that some among us never live at all. Don't let that be you!
