Don't Limit Yourself - Get Out Of Your Commfort Zone

This is what happens when you want to stay the same. This is what happens when you hate change. This is what happens when you want the status quo. This is what happens when you don't have ambition and you want to improve the quality of your life. And this is what happens when you don't want to come out of your comfort zone. They drag you out of your shell and here you are curling yourself up ... trying to resist.

In my heyday, I didn't feel comfortable languishing in such lowly positions offered to me. Starting at the bottom is just a stepping stone ... and this unquenchable thirst inside me ...  dictates I need something better. There is that drive in me that whispers I want a much higher position on the corporate ladder so I must sharpen my skills ...  hone my craft ... to become a productive and contributing member of society. I always aim to improve myself ...  explore and experiment. I want to be active and I am always inquisitive about what more can I do and what more can I achieve.

When I was in high school I was fascinated with writers who can fashion words into lines ... and lines into rhymes. There are just too many of them ... I lost count ... and I thought one day I could be like them ... not of their caliber ... just learning the ropes is enough and a good start for me. 

So I prepared myself to write compositions ... and my English class was my playground and my English teacher my mentor and my critic. Once ... she gave me an "out of the blue" comment that warmed me up ... "out of 40 of you in this class ... namumukod tangi ka ... sa mga sinisulat mo." I was rubbing my eyes in disbelief" |Is It true ... is it true? What she said was an encouragement ... and buoyed up my confidence to continue and persevere.

When I reached college ... I saw this open invitation to become a university school organ writer/reporter. I know my preparation and credentials for this work are nil to non-existent, but did that faze me to knock at their doors? It was a daunting on-the-spur-of-the-moment decision ... but I was there laying my cards on the table as I told them... "I may not be that good, but I am willing to learn."

A timid person curls like a worm for fear of rejection ... but my sunshiny disposition became my "plus pogi points" and dwarfed whatever lack ... or bad luck I had that day. Thanks to my ambition ... it nags me incessantly that I need to get out of my comfort zone fast and quick ... and dream big pa more.

When I was in the Middle East, I did the same trick ... and Arab Times and Kuwait Times gave me a red carpet to join their team. When I was writing for a local tabloid ... I was not writing as a reporter ... I felt I had the journalistic luxury  ...  I wrote opinion pieces that sounded more like column writing. After a month they give me a column byline. A little scheming and devious ... but it worked for me.

When I was in America I did work for our alumni newsletter and became a contributing writer for a Fil-Am News. With the advent of the internet, I mellowed ... but I still maintain three blogs, and Viewpoint and Mindset is one of them.

You see ... had I opted to stay in my cocoon when I was in college ... and never gone out of my comfort zone ... and let the fear of rejection paralyze me and ... render me indecisive and weak ... I wouldn't have discovered there is life behind the claustrophobic walls of the hospitals. 

Heading the surgical unit in a California Hospital is my bread and butter ... and writing as a sideline ... is a welcome addition to my already hectic schedule. It is regarded as an anodyne that soothes my tired body after a hard day dealing with emergencies ... blood ... and broken bones and limbs.

Meme on Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

 

I just hope memes will be an effective means to make people realize it is important to open your window and smell the coffee ... where you breathe fresh air and imbibe the positive vibes that are floating in the air. 

Really I am dumb-founded and I can't hold back my punches anymore. I really don't understand how people manage to make themselves victims of injustice by locking themselves away and throwing the key ... just because they want comfort and they need a safety net away from the peering and the judgemental eyes of their peers ... and from the demands of what seems a cruel world for them.

Coming out of your shell is an opportunity to move your head around and understand what things have you deprived your selves of experiencing. If you are content with having adobo all your life ...  that's fine. But did you realize there may be other options you have to try other than Filipino food? 

Have you heard of Korean samgyeopsal ... hearing it the first time ... were you not intrigued by what the experience of eating it would be? Hearing it is different ... from actually eating and tasting it. If you don't like the taste at least you know that will be the first and the last time you will order it. Iba ang natikman mo ... kaysa sasabihin mong ayaw mo nito kahit wala kang ideya kung ano ang lasa nito. Baka wala ka lang pera kaya sarado ang isip mo?

Katulad ng pangalawang meme ... the turtle really has to stick out his head to acquire knowledge and learn new things. Learning new things will allow you to understand and be aware of what the world is all about and how you fit into its mold and its challenges. It will also pave the way for curiosity to set in ... making you explore and experiment.

Once you have decided to step out of your shell, you gain new understanding and insight and the boost of courage that you wouldn't have otherwise. 

And here me on this: if you allow fear of the unknown to handcuff you back to your cave, it will put you in shackles for the rest of your life - and there will be no growth in you - yes you have germinated - but it's after effect have stunted your development... and that really didn't equip you the "self-belief" and the confidence needed to determine your purpose.

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Would you rather stay in your comfort zone? Or would you dare come out of your CONFINEMENT and accept the challenges that life has to offer? Or are you the type of person who would rather feel secure in your place of DETENTION and stay LOCKUP for the rest of your life? This is a 64-dollar question I am posing to everyone right now.

Having studied human behavior all my life, I know that forcing one to come out of his SHELL and leave his comfort zone can push "fear buttons" and trigger heightened anxiety?  One thing we need to consider when encouraging somebody to learn new things, meet new people, and try new experiences is his emotional well-being. 

We mean well ... when we suggest this, but to the uninformed ... it can generate a feeling of dread, and uneasiness ... much more the feeling of being overwhelmed. Suggesting to somebody to expand his horizon, spread his wings, and make the stride by becoming more interested in other people ... or more willing to talk ... or take part in social activities ... is blood, sweat, and tears, especially for a shy and timid person. So be mindful and be prudent when suggesting this.

To an outsider looking in ... staying in your comfort zone has its own disadvantages. It limits someone's growth and it has stunted his success rate and impedes and contains expansion and development.

It will be hard for anybody to bloom to his fullest potential if he wants to stay only where he is now.  He will never see progress if instead of moving forward ... he retreats backward. It is a gargantuan task if in spirit the person wants to propel himself in another direction but the other part of himself screams he has to remain and linger in his current state of comfort.

Another downside of staying in the status quo ... and not wanting to escape from the handcuff that has shackled the person's chances to see and try other options ... is that it has never given the person any clue on what he is really capable of doing ... or achieving.

And worst of all staying in one's comfort zone makes it hard for the person to cope with CHANGE or any readjustments. As they say ... "change is the only thing that is permanent in this world. So it will be tough luck for the person to wrestle with change if the person is ignorant or unaccustomed to it ... once it pays him its unannounced visit.

Other drawbacks if a person opts to stay in his cave ... are inaction ... unproductivity and dormancy. Life seems stationary and deadlocked. All opportunities were frozen ... all activities were halted ... and any signs of progress os at the standstill.

I hate to see stagnation ... but that's what it is!

Returning to the image above, the fish's life inside the aquarium is dull and boring.  And when he managed to escape from his jail-like enclosure, he discovered that the ocean is wide but that didn't stop him from swimming and exploring even the deepest areas. He realized what he was missing - his FREEDOM and his ability to achieve.

Life needs freedom ... where anybody can soar and metamorphose to whatever butterfly he wants to be. Life as a free man is limitless ... and that is where the magic happens.

Abraham's One Liners

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