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I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember the nerves and the anticipation leading up to this day. I remember having a very uncomfortable feeling as I opened the door. I remember the exact smell when I first walked into the building. I remember the anxiety of not knowing what to expect. I remember thinking, before the day even started, that I might just get sick because of the nerves. And while I am talking about 35 years ago, I remember all of those scary feelings just like it was yesterday…
This day was my very first day of school… kindergarten.
But there was something else very significant about this day. This day also marks the first time in my life that I did something so important and so critical to human development. On my very first day of kindergarten, I experienced what it was like to step outside of my comfort zone for the very first time in my life.
And I have to admit, it didn’t feel good…it didn’t feel good at all. I still remember the doubts that set in. Would I make friends? Would the teacher like me? Would I understand what they were teaching me in class? These doubts had me wanting to grab ahold of my fancy new bookbag and run out of the school door as fast as my little legs could carry me. These feelings had me wanting to go back home to my safe place. The only place I really knew and the one place I really loved. It had me wanting to run back to my comfort zone.
Because that is the interesting thing about “comfort zones”, they tend to make us feel so secure and so safe that we never make the effort to look past them. We never want to take that step to look outside of it and see what else is happening. To see what else is possible.
Yet, it’s so important for us to do this regularly in our life. It is so important for us to grow as individuals, but also for us to grow as a society. Let’s think of it this way…imagine a world where people chose to never step outside of their comfort zone. To instead let the doubt of failure win out. To never be brave or look beyond and see what is possible. They just kept staying in their warm, safe place where everything is always familiar and nothing ever seems to change.
So, let’s seriously pause for just a minute and imagine this world? What would it look like?
Would we have electricity and lightbulbs? Would we have cars, airplanes, or astronauts? Would we have smartphones or the Internet? Would those fun virtual reality devices exist? And what would it be like to not get packages to our front door in 2 days or less?
I have to guess that our world would look extremely different than what it does today.
It would look so incredibly different if we didn’t have some of those brave souls in the past who were willing to look beyond their comfort, to push away the doubts, and to work hard to take that step into the unknown even with the anxious and scary feelings inside.
But now it’s our turn. Now it’s our time. We only live one life, and this is our chance. Our opportunity to take a hard look at our life, to be brave, to cast away the doubts, and to finally Take That Step into the unknown. To take that leap of faith into something we have been putting off for far too long. To jump into something we have been too scared to try. Our dreams for our future are rarely fulfilled when we stay inside of our comfort zone. It’s only when we push to change that we start to see amazing things happen.
So where do we begin? How do we even get started on this journey? The first part of this path is the hardest part. We need to start by taking that first step. Whether it be joining a gym, or trying a new restaurant, or applying to different companies to see about a new job, it’s these small changes that start us on the trajectory to a new and better version of ourselves. We just need to Take.That.Step…that first step…like we did on the very first day of kindergarten.
And whether we experience failure or we succeed, whether we feel good with our changes, or we want to try again, the important part is to keep making consistent modifications in our life to challenge ourselves. We need to regularly challenge our human growth and to keep pushing past our comfort limits. This is how we create a better life for ourselves and how we create a better future for those to come after us.
And as my first day of kindergarten came to an end, I still remember it like it was yesterday. I hopped off the bus and ran up the lane to our house. I couldn’t wait to tell my mom about my day. I remember feeling so incredibly happy for the new friends I had made (these women are still my best friends today). I remember feeling proud for being “grown up” enough to be able to go to school by myself. And I remember feeling content in the fact that I could tackle this new life outside of the safety of my home. And while this was so long ago, I still remember all of those amazing feelings that come with the success and bravery of stepping outside of my comfort zone. I still remember those wonderful feelings just like it was yesterday…
Xoxo
Marsha
*For those of you struggling with something in life or have a topic of interest that you want me to talk about in this blog, email me at BeYourBestSelfBlog@gmail.com. Let’s work together to Be Our Best Selves!
Photo Credit: Photo by Rachel Claire from Pexels