Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Comfort Zones

One of the advantages of having my daughter nearby is that I’m being jarred out of my routines. I’m finding myself doing things I otherwise wouldn’t do. And that’s a good thing.

Anthony Robbins talks about how when we step outside our comfort zone to do new things, our comfort zone expands to then include those new things. He’s absolutely right. When I’m following routines, I’m not growing much. When I do new things I am. I’m discovering more things I like—or don’t like and then I know, more things I can do, more places that now become familiar. In short, I have new possibilities in my life.

The thing is, we don’t need to wait to have someone prod us into making changes and stepping outside our comfort zone. We can make ourselves a promise to do one new thing every month. We may like it so much that we’ll choose to do one new thing every week—or perhaps even every day.

I suggest this as a gift we give ourselves because there is such joy in discovering new possibilities and having an expanded comfort zone. We can begin with small steps. In a way, it’s like exercising. If we haven’t been doing it and jump in and try to do an hour at a time, odds are we’ll give up very quickly. On the other hand, if we add just five more minutes a day to our schedule and then add another five each week, then pretty soon we’ll have built up to that hour and our bodies won’t feel strained. This is especially true if we choose to do things that are fun for us. Same thing with stepping outside our comfort zone. If we build into the experience fun and/or a treat, we’re much more likely to keep doing it and wanting to do it.

Wishing for all of you some wonderful new experiences this week. Sending blessings and safe and gentle (((((((hugs))))))),
April_optimist

4 comments:

Karma said...

I really agree with what you said about taking your time to start new patterns and about making changes through slowly changing practice. I am definitely finding this helps me develop new patterns, new comfort zones. Speaking of which, off to work on that!!! Thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

good idea, a little bit each week until you build up and have accepted or rejected but based on a fair sampling not an overly large quantity too soon.

peace and blessings

keepers

jumpinginpuddles said...

comfort zones are easy to have ew like them but right now we arent ready to step too far outside maybe a tiny bit at a time

April_optimist said...

Karma,

Glad you found it helpful. It makes such a big difference when we can break old patterns and discover new ones that serve us better.

Keepers,

Yes, just at the pace that's right for YOU.

Jumping in Puddles,

Maybe take tiny steps. Choose things that make you happy. A new place for ice cream or a movie at a different time of day or...anything that makes you happy but is new or different. It isn't about what you should do but what will make you happy and your life better.