I strongly believe in the quote “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”, by American
author Neale Donald Walsh. Some may wonder, what exactly this comfort zone is. The
comfort zone defined by Merriam-Webster says that is it “the level at which one functions
with ease and familiarity”. In simple words comfort zone is like a safety net where a
person’s already existing conditions, feelings, situations are well retained.
We humans are instinctively wired to seek food, water and shelter for survival and remain in
our own safety nets. We want an overall feeling of contentment in whatever is going on in
our lives at a given point of time. Whenever we are faced with an unknown or painful
situation we reciprocate by instantly resisting. Avoidance becomes our mantra to find
comfort in the familiarity of the ‘old”. Because “old” gives us confidence that we draw from
our past experiences, situations we have been in, places that we have already been to and
people that we have always known.
We as humans have always been a curious species but life made us believe that being
curious makes life uncertain and vulnerable. And over the time we learnt that being in our
safety zone is better than being vulnerable. But I feel we humans need to get out of this so
called comfort zone and experience the richness of the life endowed upon us because
nothing ventured is nothing gained.
We need to realize that being contended with what we already have will never lead us to
the success that we desire. If everyone starts getting caught in their comfort zones, the
world will sit idle and be decades behind of where we are today. There will be no
innovations if we choose to stick to the things that we are already familiar with. I think we
would never have had internet and smartphones if their developers had been sitting in their
comfort zones.
Change is the inevitable nature of life, and if we do not celebrate the challenges that life
throws at us, life will become boring and reward less. We need to stop resisting the change
because we can either learn to accept the change and be happy or keep resisting it and be
unhappy. One simply needs to reach out of the box a few times before it becomes a second
nature to get out their comfort zone. Don’t let this enriching life just pass by you. Enjoy the
change. Get out of your comfort zone because life is waiting for you there.