Challenge Your Own Comfortability

February 23. 2016

Here's what I'm learning right now: comfort zones are stifling.

They seduce you with the ways they feel safe, the ways they make you feel like you've got things handled, the ways they ask so little of you.

There's so much more to life than feeling safe and staying small.

The past six weeks of this new year have been anything but comfortable for me. And these past six weeks have been the most exhilarating, challenging, fulfilling, gratifying weeks I can remember in a long time.

The newness of unknowns can be terrifying, yes. I won't deny that. But adventure is also alluring, and it's full of beautiful things you can't even imagine. If you stay where you're safe, where you feel comfortable, where you think you're in control, you'll never know the thrill of scary things that show you how to be brave and grow you into something better.

Do the hard things.

Tear down your walls.

Let your guard down.

Step out of your comfort zone.

Feel your heart race and your palms sweat as you walk into the restaurant for that first date. Fall to your knees in worship when you actually hear the words and sing them back and realize God's been trying to get your attention all this time. Let somebody speak truth to you that guts you and stings you and opens your eyes to your own realities in new ways. Send the resume off to the company you want to work for, even when you don't feel totally qualified or you think it's all just a long shot. Read a book nobody else is reading, just because it interests you or makes you curious or is nothing like anything you have ever read. Go somewhere by yourself, even though you feel exposed, and learn how to be content in your own skin. Buy the tickets to somewhere far away or somewhere new or to see somebody your heart misses. Spend time with pen and paper and actually work through the things that are weighing you down, and just see what happens when you actually address the mess.

Challenge your own comfortability.

There are a million more cliches about the benefits of doing things that scare you, but just trust me: it's all worth it. Figure out who you are, because you're not going anywhere. Open yourself up to the process, as humbly and willingly and wholly as you can. We are the clay and He is the potter. It's my prayer as this year rambles on that I will be flexible, moldable, movable, and surrendered.

Comfort zones be damned. I want to stretch and grow. May we be more than just human beings-- may we truly be human becomings.