Do I Have a Comfort Zone?

I’m back! Since I last posted I’ve served a mission, gotten an amazing job with an amazing company, and have learned a lot of things about being an adult. It has had its ups and downs, but on a whole, it has been wonderful. These things considered, I’ve decided to rename my blog. While I may still be young, most would not consider me a “youth” anymore. (Though in elf years, I’m yet a wee one!)

It remains to be seen with this rebranding how much the content will change. I know I have gone through several transformations in the almost three and a half years it’s been since I last wrote here. I know for sure some of the changes, but I’ll let you as the reader discover them.

Now the title of this post. “Do I have a comfort zone?” It seems an odd question. Most people would say “Of course I do. And I don't go outside of it often enough. Don’t you?” One of the greatest compliments someone has given me is that I am always outside my comfort zone. At first, I wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not. Then he explained that I am constantly pushing myself and am almost never in my comfort zone.

That was over two years ago. I have taken that in stride and realized that has been the case through much of my life. I was talking to my dad about comfort zones yesterday and asked him, “Is it odd that I feel most comfortable outside my comfort zone?” An awesome conversation ensued, and I felt like I gained some knowledge about myself.

I don’t like the feeling I get when I am stagnant. When you think about a stagnant pool of water not only is it not moving, it is allowing bacteria and other harmful organisms to grow. When we stop learning, growing, and progressing we allow harmful things to grow and fester within ourselves. These could be emotions, ideas, or thoughts about ourselves. I want to do what I can to not only prevent these from growing, but getting rid of what I’ve already acquired. I have been so much happier since I’ve started taking steps towards that.

My dad had heard from a friend that they didn’t think they had a comfort zone anymore, they had been outside of it for so long. I feel like this could be the case with me, but there is a place that I tend to feel safe. Somewhere that I can go to regain my energy to keep doing those things that stretch and grow me. If you stretch constantly for too long you are going to tear. You have to give yourself a chance to regroup.

One of my favorite memes is really simple, yet profound. In fact…

I have always wanted to be in that place where the magic happens. Often when I face something uncomfortable I have reminded myself about that meme, because I know what it depicts is true. Now, if I don’t have a comfort zone, that means that the magic can happen all around me!

My dad pointed out that as I felt, we do need a zone to heal. That doesn’t mean that we linger there, more that we stay there only as long as we need to because we want to get back out and discover what the world holds in store for us. I’m excited to see what I’ll find now that I am discovering this.

Adventure is waiting!