"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." I am sure that my Dear Readers have seen this phrase before. It is typically used when someone is trying to convince someone else to do something different. Sometimes it is posted like this:
Regardless of how we have been exposed to it, most people identify "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" as a meaningless cliche.
What we need to remember is that we must go outside of our comfort zone.
Where is my comfort zone?
If we are to go outside of our comfort zone, then we need to know where to begin. Unfortunately, there is not a clear definition of a comfort zone. However, there are a few different versions that I have found in my own life.
1. Your daily routine- everyone has their ways to unwind or get started or eat and whatnot. It is easy to stick to a routine, even when it includes something that is unhealthy.
2. Your relationships- We all have a circle of friends that we associate ourselves with. And as they say, the people you associate with define who you are.
3. Your location- Sometimes we chose to stay in the same place simply because we do not want to remove ourselves from the places and people that we know.
Obviously there are more definitions of a comfort zone, but for time-sake, I will have to move on. However, there is one clear theme amongst these comfort zones: they make use feel happy.
Why is my comfort zone bad if I am happy?
There is a reason it is called our comfort zone. We feel safe and secure in our comfort zone. Everything makes some sort of sense, and we can predict what is coming next. Even if it is not perfect, we know that our lives have structure.
We think that we are happy.
This is one of the greatest mind tricks of all time, and we do it to ourselves. Because we have convinced ourselves that our lives are good, we do not strive to be better. We do not want to change our way of life losing its consistency. No consistency means no stability which means no security which means no comfort which means no joy.
Even if it would make us happier, we chose to ignore that option. We hide in our routine, our fantasized relationships, or our bedrooms, just to keep ourselves safe. It is frightening that something could be better than what we already know.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
We are not as happy as we may think we are, and we know it.
What is true happiness?
I realize that that last statement seemed a bit morbid. I am certainly not saying that any of my Dear Readers are not happy people. What I am saying is that there is something better. We can always find something better.
So what is the absolute best?
Heaven.
Each human being was designed to be with God in Heaven. Our whole lives are meant to bring us to be in union with God, and as a result, in communion with one another. Heaven, our true home, is the ultimate form of happiness. We will not experience Heaven until we move on from this life, but it is indeed possible to experience Heaven in small ways on Earth.
But where is Heaven on Earth?
Outside of your comfort zone.
Why is Heaven outside of our comfort zone?
It is interesting how throughout the Old Testament God calls the Israelites to go elsewhere. I always felt like they were constantly searching for their true home, and I felt bad for them.
Then I realized what was happening.
Each time God's chosen people came to a place, something amazing happened. Either the walls of Jericho fell or a war was won or food came from the sky.
But it is not just an Old Testament experience. In the New Testament, the phrase, "and Jesus passed by" comes up numerous times, and every single time, a miracle happens. Jesus did not stay in his hometown, his "comfort zone" if you will.
"Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place" ~Luke 4:24
When we go outside of our comfort zone, amazing things are possible. This is mostly because our perceived limitations are no longer present. If we do not have any particular expectations, then we can do as much as we can.
And if we can do anything, then God can do anything.
God is able to work outside of our comfort zone, and because He is working within us, glimpses of Heaven are made present.
My Story
Those you who have been reading know that I like to share why this topic is important to me. So that's what I am doing now.
Outside the Zone
This summer has been extremely transformative for me. I would go in to detail, but it will be less redundant if you go here. Because of the experiences I had with my lab at Notre Dame, I had come to know that I was capable of science, worthy of healthy and meaningful relationships, and a truly beautiful child of God.
None of this would have been possible had I not chased my dreams.
Outside of my comfort zone.
Remember how I listed the three types of comfort zones? When I went to Notre Dame, I thought that the only change I was making was in my location. I thought that because I was still talking to people back in Nashville and sticking to a daily routine that I had only changed where I was having my life experiences.
I thought it was only Notre Dame that made me a better person.
Returning to my Zone
That being said, I was terrified about returning to Belmont. During the week leading up to my move in day, my acid reflux returned, I couldn't sleep, and my anxiety was through the roof. Because of the changes I had made in my life during my REU, I was finally confident. If it was only the location that brought that joy in to my life, then going back to Belmont might change things.
I was terrified I was going to become who I used to be.
I was worried that I would be that girl who used to sit in her gazebo, obsessing over the same situation, being more sassy than necessary, and not caring about people in the way she knew she should.
The past few days of RA training have proven this to be false.
RA Training
When I got back to campus, I did not feel the need to go to any of my usual sentimental locations. Instead, I decided to stay in my new Residence Hall and get to know my staff. I did not hide my passions from the world.
And guess what?
I was accepted by this amazing staff.
We own the awkward "family" photos
No Place or Situation Defines You
Yes, being outside of your comfort zone allows your life to fully begin, but where that happens or how that happens does not define who you are. If that were true, then these experiences and locations would become our new comfort zones.
It is who you become in each new location that defines who you are.
Because I decided to maintain the personality that I had gained from the experience I had this summer, I was able to take this new person in to an old location.
I could go in to how I have already started to feel myself growing within this hall already, but that is unnecessary.
It is ok to go outside of your comfort zone. You may fail, but you will not fail to become greater.
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