Thank You Walter Mitty
“To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.”
-Walter Mitty
Happy Friday and what a beautiful Friday it is. I would like to take a minute and talk about stretching our minds and reaching outside the proverbial box in order to get outside our comfort zone. What comfort zone you ask? It is the place where you are sitting right now. We all have a comfort zone, a place where we all feel a sense of comfort and safety like a familiar routine traveling a familiar path or road, and things that allow us to feel ok with where we are in life. I have a comfortable house, a good job, a smart and beautiful wife and three lovely kids…what more could a person ask for, right? Being in a comfort zone shields us from certain stresses and risks and as we all know those are two words that have come to represent bad things in our modern day society but the reality is that there is also such a thing as good stress.
Why get out of our comfort zone? There are articles aplenty that give reason galore as to why we all need to get out of our comfort zone once in a while and I’m just going to talk about the one that seems to be the most important one to me…personal growth. Let me give an example if I may. Many people (myself included) has the obligatory house plant to add a little color and breathe of fresh air to our living space. As part of the care of any house plant, besides water and sunlight to help it grow, a caretaker of plants must also pull the plant out of its existing pot and replant it in a larger pot adding new soil thus giving the root more room to grow and help keep the plant healthy. We too as humans must occasionally be pulled from our pots and repotted, we must be pulled out of our comfort zone in order to experience new growth and enrichment. If we are left in our comfort zone too long, stagnation sets in, we all become root bound and then we wither away.
How can you get out of your comfort zone? Try and take on a new or more challenging roll at work…maybe become involved in a volunteer organization that helps your local community. Take up a new hobby that allows you to explore different skills or challenge yourself through the simple act of doing things differently. Not every change has to be packing up your bags and moving across the country or even your town but if you are feeling up to the task, go for it. Change forces us all to use neural flexibility, it makes us all a little uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, these little (or major) changes help us all to develop and grow and that is the good that comes of change. As adults, we all leave home to find our own niche in the world…we are always welcome back home but it is never the same again. I quote Walter because he finally steps outside his comfort zone and what happens to him is pretty amazing. I hope you all can take a chance to explore life outside your comfort zone and be brave enough to take those steps.
As always, thanks for reading…feel free to drop me a line at wmreid@bhcshealth.com as I would love to hear from you. I encourage you all to share this and the other articles I post and spread the news. Have a great weekend, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.
Wm Reid
Best Home Care Services
325 N Eastern Ave
Connersville, IN 47331
765-827-9833
wmreid@bhcshealth.com