What happens when you learn to love your comfort zone? It turns into a stagnation zone. Yes, I know this from first hand experience. Moving forward with this blog was my first (ok, maybe second) step in shaking things up and moving out of the comfort zone. And yes, this will be a theme.
Most times when we get stuck in a comfort zone, we don’t even realize it. We just go about our business every day and then….what happened?!?!…it’s now two or three years later and we are still in the same place. Every day, week and month seem to run together. It all seems the same. We become stagnant. We complain – sometimes every day – about the same frustrations and annoyances without doing anything to make a change.
After my parents passed away in 2009, I went back to work after a 16 month period of unemployment. I was in debt and glad to find work (sort of) to get back on my feet again financially. It’s amazing how long it takes to get out of debt. I struggled and stressed about it. And then became frustrated. It was an endless cycle of wanting to do things “some day” when I was better situated financially and everyday expenses that made “some day” just out of reach. Years passed.
And then a couple of weeks ago, I visited a car dealership to get repairs done on my aging car. There it was. The convertible – used – but within a reasonably affordable price range. Driving a convertible has been on my bucket list for eight – EIGHT – years. So I went for it, figuring I would finagle the monthly budget because where there is a will there is a way.
As odd as it might sound, deciding to buy that car jolted me awake from the stagnation stupor. I had been working hard for three years and it didn’t seem I was any closer to doing the things I wanted to do. It was time for action. Buying that car was the catalyst for finally moving ahead with this blog. And yes, this is out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways.
I challenge you to do something you want to do – just make it happen. You might be surprised how it changes your outlook and how it might change your life.
Well hun … I wont forget the way your blog helped me while I was in my comfort zone – now that its time to start checking off my bucket list, I feel I have a security blanket right here – again. You’re the gift that keeps on giving xxx
We just have to keep moving forward or else we will always be in the same spot and there’s no fun in that
So true, all of it. Often, there are things we need to first accomplish before we can try to achieve what we want and that thing might not be fun, it might take longer than we would like, or be more difficult than we feel we can handle. Keeping our dreams alive during the difficult times is half the battle. We all need reminders to pursue our dreams. This blog of yours can serve as that reminder for many people. Thanks so much!
For me, the written bucket list is my dream list and it is something I refer to periodically. It’s good to keep reminding yourself what you REALLY want to do. Sometimes it takes creativity to achieve your dreams.
It’s funny how we keep thinking to ourselves that we can’t do something for years until we finally realize we can. Then we think, “Wow, that wasn’t so bad.” Then it’s a like an avalanche of things get accomplished. Then we wonder, “Why didn’t I do this before?” Then we stop and realize it’s much more fun and productive to think about the future than the past. Thanks for the trip down memory lane 🙂
Or we make up excuses for why we can’t do something….until we are pushed (or nudged) into it. And you are entirely correct about the avalanche. 🙂