I have always considered myself to be an open-minded person. Growing up, I was constantly introduced to new things. Over the years, I have grown to love and appreciate new experiences. Whether it was trying a new restaurant, attending a University that was six hours from home or traveling to a new part of the world, each experience was something that was both unfamiliar and exciting.
Last year, I was given the opportunity to travel to Valencia, Spain to visit my best friend who was studying abroad for the semester. Like any girl would be, I was so excited to vacation with my gal-pal in a new country. It felt like a dream come true. I could not wait to embark on the new journey. When I arrived in Valencia, I was in awe of the city's beauty and was fascinated with Spanish culture.
A few days into my vacation, we decided to purchase tickets to see a Spanish Bull Fight. Bullfighting is synonymous with Spanish culture and is deeply woven into the fabric of their society. It is considered to be a romantic struggle for the matador, but for those like myself and my best friend, there was nothing romantic about it. Any notion of romance was replaced with horror as we watched the events unfold. We watched as a group of men, cheered on by the over-enthusiastic crowd, slowly and painfully inflicted pain and ultimately death on what we saw as a beautiful and helpless animal.
When we left that bullfight, I was ready to take the first plane back to America. I could not believe that the bullfight was used for entertainment and it was hard for me to accept Spanish culture. In other words, I was experiencing culture shock because everything up until that point was still within my comfort zone. I thought that I was open-minded and accepting, but this experience made me question that. It made me question my own morals. It made me question my own beliefs. And, it made me question my own culture.
It took me a while to come to terms with that experience and learn to accept what had happened. To this day, I am certain of two things: the first is that I will never attend another bullfight, and the second is that I am actually grateful for the experience that I had. I learned that it is incredibly challenging, yet extremely rewarding to learn to accept something that is different from your customs and experiences. It forces you to take a step or two out of your comfort zone, and realize that the world is a much different place than what you may have already experienced.
This experience was rewarding to me because it taught me how to become comfortable with discomfort.
Life is not always going to go as planned and there will be many instances where you are put in a situation that is uncomfortable. Therefore, it is important to learn how to not only work through, but also appreciate the discomfort.
I believe that everyone should have an experience that takes them out of their comfort zone. For me, it was going to a Spanish Bullfight, but for you, it might be trying something new at a restaurant, traveling to a new place, or simply taking the time to understand someone else's point of view on a particular topic. When you do so, you will not only learn about the world around you, but you will also learn a lot about yourself.
