Blog
The comfort zone prison
This morning I had a new client to see on the other side of town. When the traffic report came on the radio, I listened with rapt attention since I would soon be traveling on three different expressways. Good grief!! There were accidents and major back ups on every main artery around town. What’s a girl to do? Well, luckily, I love exploring new ways to get to and from places. Even though I’m directionally challenged, I always get to my destination, although I sometimes have to turn around a time or two. Making note of the accidents that were on my route, I figured out a back roads way to get beyond them and then make my way to my new client.
It occurred to me that by taking chances when I had nothing to lose and exploring different ways of getting around town, I had a lot of route options to choose from. It also occurred to me that if I only had one way of getting around, that I would have been sitting in traffic for who knows how long this morning and would have certainly been late to my appointment.
We all have our comfort zones. They provide easy, comfortable and safe ways of doing things. But they also can limit our options. If we get too comfortable, we tend not to venture outside our zone. And as long as everything is going along great, this is not a problem. As soon as there is a change in the status quo however, our comfort zone becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly. As much as I like my zones, I prefer having options because heaven knows I hate being stuck in traffic!! (or anywhere else for that matter)
The next time you find yourself turning down the chance to do something different, reconsider. Think about how you might benefit from some new input. You can always go back to your comfort zone when you’re done.