Tag Archives: comfort zone

Expect Better

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Shoot for the stars. Aim for the moon. Reach for the sky.

We rarely hear advice urging people to “play it safe,” “blend into the crowd,” or “be like everyone else.”

This is not a society or culture that celebrates mediocrity, and the sameness wrapped inside of an unexceptional existence is rarely admired, praised, or even recognized. Your ordinary, humdrum life is nothing more than white noise blending into the background of much more vibrant, sonorous, and engaging surrounding soundtracks.

Occupying a secure backseat, far away from the hustle, bustle, and hullabaloo, all but guarantees you maintain your safety and sanity. But it also promises a forgettable, monotonous, and mind-numbing humdrum journey on this galactic, ever-spinning space ride.

We all have our personal patterns, ruts, routines, and comfort zones. I am certainly no stranger to extended and often unhealthy periods of isolation and introspection. But we will do nothing but continue to gradually, steadily disappear until we pull our racing thoughts out of the shadows and take those first steps into the sunlight.

Be bold and brave and brash. Express your mind and throw away the filters. Swing at pitches well outside of your strike zone. Kick conciliation to the curb. Make a splash. Make a difference. Choose dazzle over razzle. Find the fuse and light it. Be first in line to face fear. Speak up and speak out. Don’t look or walk backward. Proudly postulate. Set an example instead of following it. Commend and befriend the smart kid in class. Volunteer to go first. Refuse any free counsel offered with a side of ulterior motives. Break stride in a single file line.

Leave your mark…and be sure it’s permanent.

Adolescence Interrupted

The Feeling of Familiar

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Walking around the world as creatures of contentment and relishers of routine, it’s easy to assume that breaking a pattern to add some spice to the monotonous mix means upsetting the setup by tossing a pot of pasta against the wall to see what sticks and what falls.

However, having recently upended my entire life to return to the place where the building blocks of those comfort zones were first stacked, I’m learning that revisiting the starting line can serve as a thoroughly unexpected chance to refresh and reload. There is a certain novelty to presumption, and jack has been waiting to pounce from his hiding place boxes at even the slightest turn of his crank.

Time is impatient. While I was off chasing adventures, the town that imprinted itself onto my core code grew its own legs and learned to run…and with a heavy hunk of my heart still stuck in another city, it’s been taxing trying to keep pace.

But the breeze that blew me back to basics and the rationale to bunt and steal home remain front and center. I’m constantly reminded of the clock and its speedy sand.

Without the arms to control anything outside my direct reach, I’ll focus on what matters most, strap on those running shoes, and continue to track that elusive feeling of familiar.

Adolescence Interrupted

An Undisturbed Life

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undisturbedLately I’ve been running a little cost-benefit analysis. Is the sanctity of an undisturbed life that seeks to iron out potential wrinkles worth the loss of occasional cage rattling, spawning growth inside of chaos?

It’s a quandary I’ve circled for a long time, and I’ve yet to find any definitive evidence pointing me in one particular direction.

Woven into my central fabric is an organized, detailed, contemplative pragmatist who pays close attention to dates and deadlines. That’s undeniable. I take great pleasure aligning my ducks and creating systems to prepare for unexpected speed bumps. I’m rarely blindsided or put in awkward situations, and I relish recording the minutiae of my surroundings.

But, on the occasions when I’ve been rudely ejected from this stainless sanctuary of a comfort zone, I have found that the lessons learned and the connections made have been exponentially rewarding. The experience was never as daunting or painful as I anticipated and I generally emerged from the other side relatively unscathed.

It is an internal battle that has been raging for as long as I care to discuss. My brain doesn’t process life in the same way as the majority of people in this world, so watching the wheels of daily behavior spin in the opposite direction has added significant weight to these already-rounded shoulders.

Ruffled feathers, detonated plans, and unexpected visitors are nerve-inducing, neuroses missiles. When I lived with roommates, I was in a state of perpetual panic, waiting for someone to walk in the door without notice. Living with a significant other was even worse. But, the hours of conversation you never thought you’d have, growing in the spur of the moment, are the treasures born from those pins and needles. There was often a yang waiting for its yin. I just couldn’t pull myself back far enough to see the big picture.

So, I’m sitting at square one, battling instinct and hardwired tendency to allow the possibility and space for the unforeseen. It is a dance I’ve learned to stumble through for most of my adult life, and it doesn’t sound like the music is stopping any time soon.

A tranquil, still pond is a peaceful, beautiful thing. But, every body of water needs a few waves.