I Like It Here

Cozy

I sure do like it here.  I feel so at ease in this place, and it is so nice and safe here.  Care to guess where I am?  I’m in my comfort zone.  A comfort zone is actually a behavioral state where we define and set a set of parameters or boundaries that keep us safe and mostly stress free. 

In the job world, it can be doing a task we feel safe with and believe there is little to no chance of conflict.  We have a certain skill set and are quite happy with the status quo.  As long as we make the widgets the same way each day, all is well.  Next thing you know, a new machine is brought in that can make widgets faster than we can and now our skill set is no longer required.  What now?  Well, if one company that makes the widgets we used to make gets a new whiz bang machine to do it better, you can bet all the other companies where we may could work are about to do the same.  So what is the answer?  We have to “retool” ourselves by stepping out of our comfort zone and learning something new.

Relationships are the same way.  We can get in a comfort zone.  Before you know, you are 25 years down the road and getting a divorce.  One of the most common statements heard is, “We grew apart.”  I think the real answer is that you did not grow together as you stayed in your comfort zone never trying new things, acquiring new skills sets, or having new experiences.

We all need a comfort zone in our lives, but we also need to know how to move in and out of it.  When we stay in our zone all the time, we become complacent, we do not grow, we do not experience life to its fullest, and we do not share our experiences and energy with the universe.  Cozy is a good thing, but learn to step up and out and expand your cozy space.  You never know what you mind find when you cross the line of the comfort zone.