Sunday Story...The Edge

Sunday Story…The Edge

“Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” Walsch

Living at the edge of your comfort zone. This is not the edge of the couch. This is the edge of your everyday, humdrum, mediocre average existence. It is different for all of us. Maybe yours is turning off the television once a week. If that has you feeling wild and crazy then go for it. No matter where the edge is for you your life starts at that edge.

Why would you want to bother? Why would you want to live a life past the edge of that comfort zone? After all it’s comfortable here. It’s easy and simple and I don’t have to do too much to maintain everything as it should be. There is no stress, no hard work to do all I have to do is the same thing I always to and I get pretty much the same thing I have always gotten. No big deal, right?

Except for one small detail…you aren’t growing. You aren’t really challenging yourself in any area. Maybe you are working out but you just go through the same motions every day. Maybe your career is never going to really challenge you unless you get out and do something about it. Maybe your relationship isn’t bad but it isn’t really good or great either. You are dying; you are slowly, inexorably sliding into a rut that is going to turn into a grave at some point down the road.

Why do so many of us accept this as normal? Is it normal to sit on the couch and have our bodies rust from inactivity? Is it normal to have our closest personal relationships limp along from poor communication and unspoken needs and desires? Is it normal to not learn anything new once we leave the halls of our schools? Is it normal to never pick up a book after we leave high school? Is it normal to be overweight, sick and tired?

Apparently it is normal. All of these things are touted as facts. The lack of continuing education, physical fitness, sexless marriages, television, fast food, alcohol and drug addiction are all normal in our modern world. Does it have to be normal? Do you have to accept it as normal for you, your spouse, and your children? I don’t think so and I don’t believe you were placed here to do any of those “normal” things. You are here for more than that. You are here to be someone…you are here to be awesome.

But you are never going to get out of normal until you get to the edge of your comfort zone and start going past it.
If something makes you feel a little uncomfortable maybe you should look at it closer and see if there isn’t a growth opportunity there.
If the thought of doing something (jumping out of an airplane, learning a new language, public speaking) scares you maybe you should go ahead anyway.
If the idea of doing things in a new and different way, taking a different route to work, eating food you have never eaten before disturbs your idea of the status quo you should do them anyway.

Getting past your comfort zone may not be easy. As a matter of fact there will be times when it is hard, uncomfortable, and maybe a little painful. Remember the first time you lost a tooth? It hurt. Maybe it hurt a lot. But losing that tooth made room for a better, more permanent tooth. So it may be with going past your comfort zone. The space you make will leave room for something more interesting and different in your life. And if it doesn’t, well, normal is always there waiting for you like a comfortable pair of socks.

If you don’t know where your comfort zone is, it won’t be too hard to find. Just look at your life and see your habits and routines. That edge runs right along those things just like the boundary on a map. Your comfort zone lives and breathes where your life is effortless and easy.

You can do this. You need to do this. Your children need to see you stretching, growing and reaching for something else, something more. When they see you living in fear of change why should they want to change? When your children see you afraid to learn new things why should they pursue new knowledge. When your children see you afraid how can you expect them to have courage?

You mission (should you choose to accept it) to lead the way into new and uncharted waters…to find the edge of the sea and sail past it. When you do that you will inspire others, especially those closest to you to do something similar. You will empower the people around to you to have the faith that a leap into the unknown is going to be OK. If you don’t who will? Who else is going to lead past the comfort zone? Who else but you?

And you don’t have to go all in either. You don’t have to sell everything and move to the Amazon, or join Doctors without borders or enter a monastery. You can get past your comfort zone a little at a time. You can always put one toe in the water at a time. Maybe start small…try reading a book one night instead of watching television. Eat out at a different ethnic restaurant once a month. Eliminate one small bad habit from your life. Set a fitness goal and make a plan and follow it up. Create a life of purpose on purpose (oops! There I go again).

Pretty soon living a life at the end of your comfort zone will become a habit. You will no longer be boxed in by your fears and hesitations. You will be walking out on the tightrope of your comfort zone, balancing a life of purpose, vision, compassion and genuine integrity while serving as an inspiration to everyone around you.

Go ahead and jump…the water’s fine!

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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