You’ve most likely heard the common quote by Neale Donald Walsch, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
These days, there are excess media movements and countless young people preaching that your comfort zone will be the thing to absolutely destroy your life’s success. They basically imply that staying in your "comfort zone" will be a hinderance to most aspects of your life.
In some cases, this is true. Staying in your so-called “comfort zone” causes you to miss out from certain opportunities that could drastically impact you. However, the overall concept of discrediting someone's successes until they dive into situations where they are completely uncomfortable, just may ruin them more than their comfort zone would have.
People will challenge you to consistently push yourself to go above and beyond your limits with your extracurricular involvement, social groups, and situational adventure. But sadly, this perspective is easily misinterpreted, implying that what you are doing and who you now are is not enough.
Contrary to the popular belief, your comfort zone is where you grow strong and grow quickly. In a twisted desperation to endure discomfort, many are consistently ripping their roots out to plant themselves somewhere with more challenging soil. What they don't recognize is that because of this, they won't grow in a healthy way. We have to be able to admit that it is not a bad thing to desire a safe place where we can easily enjoy our circumstances.
Your comfort zone is often where you gain the confidence to succeed.
Often times in college, you are told to invest yourself in things you are passionate about. It isn't necessary to ask people to be stressed and anxious about the situations where they can live out these passions. Most likely, your passions and talents are the skills you are comfortable expressing. For example, an introverted engineer should not be told they aren't leaving their mark on others and should "go out of their comfort zone" and get involved with public speaking. By finding the talents you are genuinely comfortable with, you will find success. It is important to have a stable launching pad where you can grow, so that when you are catapulted into the discomfort of life, you are prepared.
Your comfort zone gives you the stability to impact others.
At the end of the day, most people would agree their goal in life is to positively impact the people around them. Their incentive to get out of their comfort zone is to impact their peers. However, it is easy to get so wrapped up in focusing on the ways that an “uncomfortable” situation is growing and stretching you, that you can be blind to the people around you that you could impact. Comfort isn’t a negative experience. A huge way to impact your peers is to bring them into community with you to give them that place of peace and comfort. If you are uncomfortable then you have no means to welcome someone into your life and give them a rock of stability to lean on.
Your comfort zone is where you are genuinely joyful.
People position the concept of comfort zone like some sort of cage that is where you are going to rot and die. Just because you are in your comfort zone doesn’t mean your life is one big jail cell. You have permission to feel good. Society hypes being comfortable as if your life isn’t being productive. You tell me, is there always something wrong with the productivity and happiness that comes in a situation where you are confident you will succeed?
You need to take time to revive yourself through comfortable situations in able to rejuvenate for life’s next challenge.
Life will consistently throw you out of your comfort zone. There will be people and circumstances that challenge you whether you go looking for the challenge or not. There is nothing wrong with intentionally placing yourself in comfortable situations when you can, as long as when discomfort does come your way you welcome it with a positive attitude.
