Outside the Comfort Zone
Having lived in many different places throughout my life, I look at adaptability as one of my top strengths. Moving to different neighborhoods, going to different schools, and making new friends have helped make each new transition easier. Its also given me different outlooks on different issues and made a more well-rounded person. Some of the transitions weren't easy, but I think that it's important for everyone to experience new things and leave their comfort zone often in their life. You can't really grow as a person unless you are willing to go out on a limb and experience some sort of stress related to the unknown. So go to a country that you don't know a word of the native language and go eat something you've never even heard of. Basically don't be afraid to try new things and to take yourself outside of your comfort zone.
posted by elemenohpee at 3:30 PM
1 Comments:
Yes--moving outside your comfort zone--you just have to push yourself to meet the new environment. After 30 years of living in the same city, Cleveland, going to college there, working there, I moved from Ohio to Dallas. Suddenly, I knew no one. Had no job. No school to go to. Was just a "wife" with a Master's Degree in English. Pushed myself to apply for a job teaching junior college, which I had never done.( I had taught high school.) Pushed myself to apply to a program to get a Ph.D. Then, suddenly, after two years, when I had just begun to love my job, my graduate study, and my new friends, my husband took a fellowship at the University of Chicago for a year--and that meant moving again to a new city with no job, no friends. I felt so depressed. But after a few weeks, I heard about a literary magazine that was edited by U. of Chicago students and people in the neighborhood, and I showed up at one of their meetings. I joined the staff of the journal and became involved with the editing, publication, and distribution of the magazine to Chicago bookstores. The journal staff told me about a teaching job I could apply for, and I got it. And at that job, I met a woman who turned out to be a great friend for life. The whole year there was one of the best in my life--so you never know--just be open to new experiences. Jumping into new and bigger ponds is the best way to grow.
6:55 PM
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