Welcome to the Comfort Zone

Welcome to the Comfort Zone

“Sad is the day for any person, when they become absolutely satisfied with the life they are living, the thoughts they are thinking, and the deeds they are doing. When there ceases to be forever beating at the doors of their soul, a desire to do something larger which they seek and know they were meant and intended to do.”

Author Unknown

I’ve Been Thinking. . . How does a fish know it is wet? Think about it! The fish spends all its life in water - it knows no other alternative.

Are you pursuing a lifestyle or goal that defies the tested and true customary condition? If so, great! If not, this may be the time to move beyond the attitudes, that strap you to the past.

Like fish, we tend to be drawn toward what we've always experienced. It's called the "comfort zone." Once caught in its snares, the zone inhibits our ability to break free from the restrictive parables of the past that limit us from achieving increased fulfillment and satisfaction in our lives.

The comfort zone involves those feelings, experiences, and thoughts that you feel comfortable with. Everything outside the parameter of the comfort zone is considered undesirable.

Whenever you consider thinking or acting contrary to this internal monitor, a stress signal sounds, warning you to pull back into your comfort zone. This natural impulse becomes more complicated. Even though venturing outside present boundaries may produce excitement, satisfaction, and to some degree a personal victory, most people refuse to do it unless they are forced.

There is a story of two caterpillars crawling across the grass. When a beautiful butterfly flies over, one caterpillar nudges the other and comments, "You couldn't get me up in one of those things for a million dollars!"

The caterpillar didn't understand the excitement of growth. How many times do we limit our achievement, not realizing the potential for much more? Personal growth transforms life through the development of resources not yet recognized.

Life enrichment, idea development, product improvement, personal growth, and professional advancement all require movement beyond the habitual way of doing things in the direction of expanded experiences.

“If you want to succeed,” said John D. Rockefeller Jr., “you should strike out on new paths rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.”

Mustering up the courage is no small matter because the possibility of discomfort, failure, or negative exposure is reason enough for not moving. If, by chance, you move outside of your present zone, a new comfort zone will quickly be created that resembles the one you just left. This internal modem desires to keep you the way you've always been.

A music instructor asked a young girl, "Can you play the Saxophone?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I haven't tried yet."

In a sense, you're just like that little girl. You don't know either what you can do or become. Don't sell your potential short. Refuse to accept self-imposed limitations.


“If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead.”

Gelett Burgess