On a day to day, or minute to minute basis in our lives, we don’t often think about utilizing the virtue of courage. We are not even really conscious about needing it or using it. We have been conditioned to think that courage is reserved for the heroes on life, the firefighters, the soldiers, or for the moments when our lives or lives of our loved ones may be in danger. No doubt, these situations require courage but the utilizing the courage that we have inside on a daily basis is what creates a full life for each of us. It is what creates a life worth living, vs. surviving it.
Were you taught in life to not be bold? Were you taught to be nice, not make waves, not stand out, and certainly not go against the current? Does your family have a certain way of living that you never really considered going against? Maybe you don’t even know why you do certain things a certain way, you just do. It’s all you know. It’s your personal paradigm.
Security has become the way to live these days. People will give up their own passion, integrity, and zest for life in order to be secure. We will stay in an unfulfilling relationship, stay in that dead end job, and spend the weekends on the couch, because it’s comfortable. It’s our comfort zone.
The cost for staying too long in our comfort zone is tremendous. A comfort zone gives us an arena to master. It’s where we feel proficient and confident. It’s not a bad thing. But when we rarely venture out of it we can eventually feel depressed, frustrated, held back, numb, anxious, and unfulfilled. Often times we think it’s because of our circumstances, or because of another person that we feel this way. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s all because of our choices to not get outside our own comfort zone, to avoid risks, to stay safe and what we think is SECURE.
True security comes from being willing to live a courageous life. What I mean by that is on a daily basis deciding to venture outside your comfort zone. Ask for that raise, address that difficult issue with your spouse, go outside and make a snow angel with your child, go speak in front of that group that you know you could contribute to, go take a ballet class, start that business you have been dreaming about.
We don’t get outside our comfort zone because we don’t think we could handle what might happen if we did. True security comes from knowing that you can handle anything that might happen as a result of your risking, knowing that even if it didn’t turn out great, you’d be OK. And that you’ll do whatever you need to in order to get back up and keep going.
What is it for you? What would have you outside your comfort zone? Living a passionate, full life is a choice. It’s not something that one day gets bestowed upon us. The longer we wait, the harder it is to tackle those challenges. What awaits you on the other side of your comfort zone is YOUR LIFE! Go and get it.
