Stretch a Little

Ok, so I have a confession to make.
  I am a recovering comfort addict.  And before you laugh, I want to point out that this is probably a condition that effects a lot more people than are willing to admit it.  It's so easy to be comfortable, to get used to our habits (good or bad), our routines, our same friends, our same hang outs.  But generally speaking, growth does not come without risk, and success often is waiting just outside the walls of our comfortable little existence.  The regrets I most often look back on in life are the times I played it safe.  How I wish I would have had the courage to dive in when the boat driver stopped far out in the ocean and asked if we wanted to swim.  I promised myself that if I am ever given that opportunity again I will not let fear hold me back.  I will take that plunge.  And as silly as it seems,  this little exercise is something that I've started to practice often.  If something makes me feel uneasy because I think it might be difficult or different than what I'm used to, I go for it.  Why?  Because I realized I was never going to get to where I wanted by staying where I was.  Moving forward requires taking a step, and oftentimes that step is into the unknown.  When you challenge yourself to get up and get out of your comfort zone, you find a whole new world and new skills developing which you never would have know you had.  
  So what's your ocean story?  Is there something you know you should do, but you are too comfortable doing the things you always do?  Baby birds have their mother's to push them out of the nest and force them to learn to fly.  You don't have that option.  You have to learn to push yourself, to look over the edge of your fluffy nest and then step over the edge.  Jeff Olson writes in his book, The Slight Edge, "What's uncomfortable early becomes comfortable later,"  and,  "What's comfortable early becomes uncomfortable later."  The point is that, while our same old habits may feel comfortable now, it will not be comfortable for us later when our bad eating habits cause us health problems or our lack of exercise leaves us unable to fit into our clothes, and while it may be uncomfortable now to change your spending habits and start saving for retirement, it will be comfortable later when you can retire and not worry about whether you have enough money to finish out your days.
  If you are just now realizing that like me, you may be a comfort addict, then good, you've spotted the problem.  The solution now is to start breaking free.  Commit to that event which may be a little outside your element.  Go out of your way to help someone with something you wouldn't normally do.  Try that new class that scares you a little.  You never know what's waiting for you just on the other side of your comfort cave.  Get out there and go for it!  I'm with you!

~K.W.