Highway to the Comfort Zone

Have you ever desperately wanted something and found yourself willing to do and try almost anything to get it!  You get that thing and then after a while the novelty wears off and you lose interest……. or become matter of fact about it.

I think most of us can probably hold our hand up to this experience, whether it be a new car, job, friend or relationship we eventually find ourselves in the reality of the comfort zone.  One of life’s paradoxes is that we at one time or another want to be in the comfort zone and yet if we stay there for too long it can become humdrum and lifeless. 

So does this mean we need to align ourselves with the throw away society of the 21st century and continue to accrue new things, people and experiences, only to disregard them when the glimmer dulls?  I guess that is one option – one that feels a little empty and void of true and lasting happiness, to me, still it’s good to have options ;)

Or how about we learn the art of gratitude?  How about we ‘get out of our comfort zone, while we remain in our comfort zone’?  Almost sounds like a Dr Seuss quote “think left & think right, think low & think high.  Oh, the things you can think up if only you try”

A blend of daily gratitude and daring attitude!  This is the type of approach that may just keep us both happy with what we have yet at the same time stimulated to have more and do better – just with the thing we already have that’s all.

 An example:  The new car…..

GRATITUDE - Staying inside the comfort zone

• Remember back to when you were driving your last car and think back to how much you yearned for the car you have now.
• Be mindfully grateful:  think of or write down 3 – 10 things that new car has created in your life for the better; maybe it’s cheaper petrol economy due to better fuel efficency or the sense of security that comes from knowing this car won’t break down
• Be actively grateful, take time and pleasure in looking at your new car in your driveway, clean it regularly, drive it sensibly & safely, (for those that are really happy to step outside the comfort zone) speak to your car and thank it out loud, tell it what you love about it.  If this just feels too weird tell someone else.
• When you see someone else in a new car be grateful that you also have a new car, when you see someone with less be grateful that you have more & when you see someone that you percieve has more be grateful that you at least have a car.
• Think of your own ways to feel grateful, google how to be grateful, buy books on gratitude practice it daily – start with the car and carry it into the rest if your life.

DARING ATTITUDE – livng outside the comfort zone while staying inside of it

• Decide not to drive your car for a work day!!!  Argh – then feel how much you appreciate having any car.  The flip side of this is the part where you get to live outside the comfort zone while staying in the comfort zone.  In excusing your car services for the day relish the experience of doing something different to your usual routine:  Did you need to take public transport to work?  What was that experience like?  What did you discover, observe, find interesting or funny (an experience you wouldn’t have had in your car).  Did you need to get a lift with a work collegue – did you find out things about this collegue you didn’t know or connect on a level you hadn’t before? Were you able to walk to work?  What was the weather like?  The list goes on and on……………………….
• Decide not to drive your car on the weekend.
• If you dare decide not to drive your car for a week.
• Drive to your usual places taking a different route.
• Take a drive without know where you are going.
• Think of your own ways to take you and your car outside the comfort zone .

AND BACK TO GRATITUDE

• Be thankful for the new experiences and the fact that you are able to enjoy them due to your new car.

Although the example was with a new car, with a little creative thinking these suggestions really can be applied to any area in your life.  So how about it - be comfortably daring!

You will never really know until you give it a go! 

Sue Warner

Rainbow Healing Therapies