Once upon a time there was a comfort zone…

woman at starting line - runningIf it is true that life starts at the edge of the comfort zone as someone once said, then which edge, the inside or outside one?

Okay, I know I am being deliberately pedantic. However over the years slowly and surely I have been getting more and more non-plussed about this imaginary comfort zone. It’s a myth, probably made up by marketers as no scientist talks about this and certainly as someone who is all about energy, I am not seeing anything comfortable about being small, hiding, making do etc. because even if you aren’t voicing it you know you are doing it.

I get the pseudo-science behind it. Whatever you are doing allegedly is in the comfort zone and whenever you do something different, crazy, risky even or adventurous AKA not your norm, then you are apparently not in the comfort zone. Some call it a zone of genius. However the only downside is that once you step in to that bit that lies outside of the comfort zone it becomes your new comfort zone.

So you see, it is a bit of a dilemma.

Don’t misunderstand me as I know how helpful it is to see life in this way. It can give you a good metaphoric kick up the backside to get out of a rut. However I am not sure a rut can ever be comfortable, can it?

Once you start something, momentum will take over and the confidence, the courage, the ideas, the abilities and so much more that you thought you didn’t have, you will find were within you all along!

It’s not boring to be comfortable, is it?

Discomfort is not good and that is what a rut or monotony would be for me. So if I wanted to be pedantic I would say most people live in discomfort. Nothing comfortable in that then. Familiarity perhaps however not comfort.

Stuck in jobs they maybe detest. Relationships that are past their best by date. Bored of monotony. Seeking adventure, excitement and challenge, yet while they are stuck in their zone of discomfort and pretending they are ‘stuck’ nothing can change.

Is that you?

Then of course comes the stories of I have to be stuck, I have responsibilities, money obligations and not enough and I have to therefore say NO to living life as I really want to because I don’t trust myself to make it work. I don’t even know what the alternative could be.

Better to pretend discomfort is comfort and everything outside of this discomforting comfort is wildly crazy and zany. (I don’t mean anything to do with 1D here when I use Zany.)

It makes the whole thing of changing your life, mixing it up near impossible, yet so many do it.

What makes people give up discomfort and some not?

Are they made of different stuff?

Are they richer?

Are they more confident?

Are they more reckless?

Maybe, however these conditions are not prerequisites. They are simple people who made a choice.

The people who give up discomfort and step into something far more exciting in their lives do it because they just stopped telling themselves they can’t. They also I suspect stopped calling their comfort zone that and told the truth that actually they were more in discomfort living this life that they really didn’t want and pretending to enjoy when really more and more it was feeling like endure.

They also would no doubt give up looking at life in terms of failure. It is a great rouse to view it like that. For those who don’t make a whole hearted choice to give up discomfort, they are more likely when something doesn’t work out as expected or wanted to shrink back to discomfort, give up the comfort and joy of living life as they desire and return to the familiarity of discomfort. Slip back to old ways and feeling stuck. This is why failure is a rouse.

Instead of looking at life as failure or success it is about looking at life as an adventure. It is about trusting you and creating a plan.

Not everyone is going to leave their job, sell up and go and build schools in Africa in an overnight decision. You may, however it isn’t everyone’s way.

So you start where you can.

Look for new jobs.

Seek out new hobbies.

Stretch yourself to go and do a week somewhere where you break your routine, it might be as simple as a Yoga a retreat, or a holiday on your own or as bold as planting trees in the Amazon.

Invest in you being different. And yes, money fears and worries will always creep up, and while I am not a gambler, if you don’t speculate and take some risks you will not experience accumulation of a wonderful and joyous life, in my opinion. And if you story is I don’t have enough money then to change it you have to start acting as if you do as otherwise you will always have the same story no matter what.

Instead of looking at life as failure or success it is about looking at life as an adventure. It is about trusting you and creating a plan.

You simply have to take steps out of monotony. Once a month, once every two months if you can’t manage more as once you make that change you will activate the qualities that are within you.

As Susan Jeffers coined, you feel the fear and do it anyway, because the fear of thinking and believing the discomfort, the boredom, the monotony is it in life is destroying your joy for life.

Once you start something, momentum will take over and the confidence, the courage, the ideas, the abilities and so much more that you thought you didn’t have, you will find were within you all along!

Share how you have been inspired to do something different in the comments.

Author Bio
Sarupa Shah

Sarupa Shah is an award winning intuitive business coach, spiritual mentor and founder of The Soul Agency. The Soul Agency works with women across the globe who want to put soul and spirit back into their life, career, business and the world. Empowering women in their business and career paths to be strong, successful and soulful. Sarupa coaches and runs events focussed on how you can be spiritually powerful and materially successful. The true path to having it all. If you are ready to claim your success then check out Sarupa here at: www.thesoulagentblog.com and connect with one of the planet’s most sought after spiritual thought leaders and teachers and create your legacy for you and the world.

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