Tuesday, January 22, 2008 ~
For today’s post I would like to talk about the concept of the comfort zone. One of my favorite quotes is….“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” ~ sometimes attributed to Neale Walsh.
How often do we venture out of our comfort zone? Truly? For many of us.. not that often. We remain with what is safe, known, and comfortable. And let’s be honest….venturing out of the comfort zone can be absolutely soul terrifying. But generally, these out of the c-zone experiences end up being the most exciting and gratifying of all. And even though we realize this, for some reason our mind forgets that wonderful feeling and when the next opportunity to leave the c-zone comes along… we are terrified all over again.
I was WAY out of my comfort zone when I went through 11 weeks of federal agent training at a law enforcement training center in Georgia many years ago. It was grueling and scary, but it was also life changing for me. Once I got some time away from it, I could see how I had grown through the experiences that I went through. I also met amazing people and made some incredible friendships. It stretched me and made me see that I was capable of much more than I thought.
Another out of comfort zone experience for me was the first time I went rock-climbing. I was not necessarily scared, as I believed I was safe, but it was HARD! So many times I wanted to give up, but I was determined to get to the top and have the joy of repelling back down. I can still remember the instructor yelling to me from the ground…”you’re doing great, Cindi, now just put your right foot on that next ledge.” LEDGE? I saw no ledges. For me a ledge is probably big enough to sit something on. This was more of a teeny, tiny, itty, bitty slice of rock that might possibly accommodate part of my pinky toe.
But true growth seems to occur when we leave the safe confines of our comfort zone. Similar to a boat sitting at the dock. It might be a great, sea-worthy boat. But the real adventure comes by leaving the dock and setting sail.
When is the last time you left your comfort zone? What is something you could do this week that will stretch you …even just a little bit?
Peace,
~ Cindi
Posted by Give your fantasies a little CPR! « Cindi Saadi ~ Life Coach, Writer & Photographer on February 16, 2008 at 9:36 pm
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