You know that phrase ‘the comfort zone’? I read something in the last few weeks that really has challenged that concept for me.
I’ve realized that the comfort zone is really a ‘familiar zone’. It has much more to do with familiar than comfort because often ‘the zone’ can be very uncomfortable. What ends up being comfortable is ‘the familiar’.
The real questions then become:
Is this place of familiar really comfortable?
When I ask myself this, I realize that my answer is that at some level, staying small, which is my familiar zone, is pretty comfortable because in some ways it feels safe to me.
On the other hand, staying small limits me so much that I’m unable to move forward freely toward a life filled with abundance on every level, from having a full practice and business to having a deep and meaningful, intimate relationship with a soul mate. So no, ultimately my familiar is not comfortable or even sustainable for me in creating the life of my dreams.
Am I willing to step or even lean against edges of my familiar zone?
For me, I’m more of a stepper than a leaner. Once I make a decision to move, I generally go. And right now that has looked like hiring a business coach to help me make some steps forward into being more visible in my practice. It has meant creating a new web site to reflect the shifts in my business and asking for help in doing it. It means that I’m writing more blogs and communicating more with all of you on a regular basis.
And yes, there are times and days when it is uncomfortable to step out of the familiar. I find myself asking questions like: What will people think? Will they like what I write? Am I writing it good enough? Am I heading in the right directions? Will this really work?
And what I’m discovering is that I’m learning all kinds of things about myself. I’m learning where my edges are and how to work with them rather that trying to force things to happen. I’m having numerous opportunities to begin to understand how to surrender and let go, allowing things to unfold because sometimes when I take the step, it is unclear how it will all come together in the end. And I’ve found that when I try to force something to come together, it no longer is flowing and it gets stuck until I step back and let go. The journey to there is an adventure in and of itself.
What about you?
What is your familiar zone?
Is it comfortable?
Are you willing to make a move toward some real comfort?
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