A few months ago I received this image from Debbie Laskey.
This simple image and 7 words (Your Comfort Zone – Where The Magic Happens) were so powerful that I was immediately impacted. Since then I have continually shared the photo to illustrate how our daily choices impact individual lives, families and organizations.
Today I was thinking about:
- People with dreams that are so big they seem impossible.
- People that have recently experienced a life-altering event and are struggling to believe that good things will ever happen again.
- Organizations that are seeking to breathe life into a vision that is larger than any one person or department.
- People that have lived so long in a comfort zone that can’t yet see how it is killing their imaginations, their dreams, their joy, their health and their relationships…
In each one of those examples people have to first catch the vision that something greater is possible, then find a way to hang on to the vision in spite of being uncomfortable.
Each one of us knows someone that has started the journey from comfort to magic, and then listened to voices of fear and ran back to what they were comfortable with instead of hanging tightly to the vision of what could be. (Sometimes we’ve been that person.)
In the midst of all those thoughts lyrics from Jimmy Durante danced through my mind,
“Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go and still have the feeling that you wanted to stay? …Stay? …Go? …Go? …Stay…?”
Some good and challenging thoughts. Guess you two decided it is time to move out of your comfort zone, huh? Love ya! Looking forward to seeing you at Christmas!!!
This hit me right where I needed to be smacked. Sometimes we’ve started a journey then listened to voices of fear and gone running back to what they know instead of hanging tightly to the hope of what could be. I just left a job of 8 years to start something new. Lots of cons, one pro. The pro is hope of what can be. I need to hang on to that hope.
Jane,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! …You referenced something that is becoming a growing passion for me ~ the need for individuals to understand their emotions during job transitions.
Check out this link. It will take you to a marvelous tool created by Ann Salerno and Lillie Brock. I have witnessed self-proclaimed grown tough-guys get excited about how this tool helps them understand their own emotions during lateral moves, promotions and relocations and seen recent college graduates find just as much power in it. Let me know if it helps to encourage you! http://www.changecycle.com/changecycle.htm
Hang on to the hope!
Chery
Chery-
Thank you for this post which clearly deals with push-pull tension when we are “at sea” (often by our own choice, but mostly when we have lost our “position” in the world. It is a place where when friends are consulted often they stoke the fires of fear, often unwittingly, and we are left feeling abandoned with our dreams. I chose such a place when I left the comfort zone of a University professorship and went “on the road” (on a motorcycle at that) to be an entrepreneur musician. I knew what it would take and so I made a simple request “God, increase my faith.” – The road has been uphill all the way, and I am glad and grateful 40 years later that I took that turn.
Thank you for providing us with this space to share an clarify our own thoughts.
Wayne
Wayne, Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your story. I never get tired of hearing how others have pushed through their comfort zones in the pursuit of their dreams! (…So were you driving a Harley on your adventure?)
The older I get the more I realize that no matter how often I make the choice to push through my own comfort zones I will always face another opportunity to do it again. Each time I make that choice I go through a period of time where I feel week, small and afraid. If I can stay focused on the goal, my faith grows significantly and I emerge a little wiser, a little stronger, a little softer, and with a lot more understanding about others and the natural process we all go through during change! …And then another opportunity arises and I get to make the choice again!
Chery –
No Harley! A 100cc Kawasaki dirt bike. “Imossible” and “Crazy!” I heard when I made my intention known: Santa FE New Mexico to Philadelphia Pennsylvania. 3000+ miles (I zigzagged) -did it then-glad now.
Thank you.
Wayne