Blog #597: Munchies and Comfies
Dipping into last week’s email bag.
Shawn –
You write about comfort zones, but you make them sound unwanted.
Isn’t it a life goal to strive to find comfort in order to find happiness?
Am I right or wrong?
A Reader
______
My response:
Dear Friend…
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Comfort Zones…
and an extra big thank you for reading my blog.
Absolutely…
Comfort Zones feel like we’re “Home.”
They offer us a sense of security, peace, and familiarity. We all have those moments when we just want to feel a little extra peace and harmony.
Yes?
Comfort Zones are definitely like that for me.
I love watching a good TV series with my dogs by my side while snacking on my favorite munchies and wearing my favorite comfy pajama pants.
It feels extra peaceful to my mind, heart and soul.
But at the same time, life has taught me…
“TOO often TOO comfy leads me to miss out on TOO much.”
I’m not being a fatalist in knowing I’ve lived 2/3 of my life. I feel lucky in knowing and LIVING this truth. It plays a key part in how I make decisions.
I KNOW that when I am OLDER…
I don’t want to reminisce about having lived a Comfort Zone existence. I don’t want to spend my last conversations sharing my all-time favorite TV shows…and talking about the big news stories that happened in my lifetime.
Instead…
I want to recall the stories of the great adventures I lived.
I want to reminisce about how scary it was to start a college and publish my first book. I want to laugh about the time I got a henna tattoo while sitting on a beach in Rio de Janeiro after having a couple of caipirinhas. I want to feel courageous again when I talk about having to pull a suitcase through the night streets of Barcelona looking for a place to sleep after having my passport and money stolen. I want to remember sitting outside on a rainy stage in the Philippines getting drenched as I talked to a school of passion-hungry kids.
None of those experiences would have happened living on my couch.
Life is a sweet balance.
1. Living days in our Comfort Zones.
2. Living days boldly stepping outside of them.
If I end up spending 50% of my life in my Comfort Zone and 50% of my life living out of it, I’d think THAT was a pretty great life.
So you’re right.
Comfort Zones are absolutely awesome.
But the more that I’ve stepped out of mine…
the more awesome my life has grown.
Just MY thoughts.
Thank you again for reading Extra Mile Thursday. May you find your
sweet spot in living inside your Comfort Zone…and bravely living out of it.
With gratitude…
S.
EXTRA Thoughts…
On my couch…
I’ve lived 10,000 comfortable moments.
I’ve lived zero great stories.
✨
Here’s the audio version of this week’s blog.
Miss last week’s blog?
In it, I talk about dominoes falling, anxiety building…and Finding Five.
Feel as if you’re pushing too many “bricks in your wheelbarrow”? Click the link below to read:
AND…
#ClapForSomeone today. It makes the world a kinder place when we do.
✨
Thank you for reading.
I feel extra lucky that YOU did.
With appreciation and gratitude…
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