Step outside the Kingdom of Comfort

by Jill Sockman

So, here’s a little question for you. How much are you missing out on in order to stay warm, stay dry, stay safe or stay comfortable? I’m beginning to realize that the older I get, the more I just might be missing.

There was a time in my life when adventure was de rigueur. I was pretty uninterested in comfortable, as it generally meant *boring*! While I suppose there are elements of maturity and practicality at play here, there are also elements of complacency, fear, laziness and wayyy too much time spent in my comfort zone.

Oh, the beloved comfort zone. A while back we posted a cartoon on Facebook with a sketch indicating the location of all of the good stuff as decidedly outside your comfort zone. Ha ha, yes, so true, Like!, I agree, blah blah blah. But what are you doing about it? How much time do you really spend outside your comfort zone? Do you know what it feels like? Because very often it’s cold, wet, hot, sticky, tired, nerve-wracking, anxiety-producing…UNCOMFORTABLE! Until it isn’t…and then it’s exhilarating, spectacular, breathtaking, deeply freeing.

When did you last stay up half the night to see a meteor shower? Walk barefoot in the pouring down rain? Climb a mountain? Fly a kite? Try something– ANYTHING– new (and well outside your usual range of activities)? Have you created your own, personal Kingdom of Comfort, including only people like you and doing only the things you’re good at? Well, join the club.

I say we disband the Comfort Club. Today, this week, this month, I invite you to try something new. To do something a little differently, to let go, lose control, act silly, have an adventure, mess it up, get it wrong, be vulnerable. Why? To open you up to more life. More love. More joy.
Let’s try, shall we? And if you do, take a picture and tag us at #bluelotusnc. We’ll do the same.