Advertisers often exhort us to “get out of your comfort zone.”
As though comfort zones are a bad thing.
And if we buy their:
- Automobile
- World Cruise
- Hair Color
- Sport Shoes
- Mobile Device
- Adult Beverage
We’ll be transported out of our (bad) comfort zones into a happier place.
And advertisers aren’t the only ones; work/life coaches, psychologists and other “experts” all tell us that the sure – the only – road to success lies in getting out of our comfort zones. Here are some examples:
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They’re wrong.
I realize that if some people didn’t get out of their comfort zones to look for a better way, we wouldn’t have marvelous inventions like indoor plumbing, penicillin, and the Internet.
And while I’m grateful to inventors, we can’t all “boldly go” where no one has gone before. Some of us aren’t wired that way. Some of us are afraid. And some of us simply 
choose not to.
Remember, “They also serve who only stand and wait”?
Well, they also have lives who only stay in their comfort zones.
And that’s me.
And I’m unapologetic, because I know my comfort zone can disappear in one second.
That’s right – one second is all it takes to turn your life into something it wasn’t before, and never will be again.
Like the loss of a loved one. Whether it’s a slow death that allows you some time to prepare, or a sudden loss from a bullet or a car crash or some other tragedy, when you lose someone you love, it changes your life.
We come to accept the loss of a loved one because we have no choice. And our comfort zones will never be as comfortable again.
Or a natural disaster. Think of the 30,000 people who used to live in Paradise, CA until a wildfire destroyed their town. They’ll get their lives together – well, most of them will – but it won’t the lives they had before.
And don’t tell me that a “new life is a new opportunity!” Bullshit. A “new life” without any trappings of the old – your home, your keepsakes, your memories? Sure, for those who are alive, being alive is most important. But the losses they suffered are forever.
Or a health disaster. One minute you’re cruising along, and then – heart attack. Or a stroke. Or a cancer diagnosis.
Sometimes a new comfort zone can be created after a health disaster. But if I have the option of staying in my current comfort zone – I’m staying.
And that’s the issue – I don’t have the option of staying in my comfort zone. External and/or internal events, out of my control, can change my life, and I have no power to stop them.
So while I can, I’m hunkering down and staying right here, in my comfort zone.
That’s my road to success.
I Hate Houseguests 