Serving Time In Your Comfort Zone

I have heard the term "comfort zone" used to describe that part of one's life where they feel most accommodated, or safe. Their reluctance to leave it is so risky to them that they are literally paralyzed with fear to do anything to disrupt it.

In other words, they are serving time in their own personal prison.

Fear can do many things to a person and one of the first things it does is to rob them of their incentive to be, well, "better." Being "better" is a relative term but given the nature of humans, it can best be described as being improved. Whether we are talking about a skill set that needs enhancing, or one's economic situation being in need of a serious upgrade.

Fear, in and of itself, is an agent of mediocrity and as long as one keeps that fear to themselves, they do not have to answer to it. When the task calls for the involvement of other people, then one's image of themselves as a being who is afraid to be seen as they see themselves, is something to be hidden away from all prying eyes.

Fear also leads to worry and worry and fear together is an extremely toxic combination. Worrying takes the place of action and being afraid to act is tantamount to surrender. One has simply given up on being anything other than their own pitiful self and the result is a half-lived life.

A life not lived is one not felt.

As a Christian, I live to feel the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me, directing and counseling me on life's challenges. It is He who is working to make sure that I live an abundant life in accordance with my obedience to God's will.

Life is nothing if not challenging and the greatest challenge is to live without fear or worry, to escape one's comfort zone, and to reach out and experience God! But, if your comfort zone does not allow you to even look outside of it, then it has indeed become a prison.

What do you see when you imagine yourself as successful? And, let's define "successful" as being beyond where you are today to be someone/something "better."
From the safety of your prison cell do you imagine the world as viewed from your television, or your books, or your magazines? Wouldn't it be wonderful to actually have touched this world at some point?

Do you envision life as too challenging so you choose not to face it? I mean, we don't have to be talking about skydiving!

Let's presume that you are faced with a financial challenge. In thirty days from now, unless you do certain things, you will lose your home and all of your possessions. You will have to make arrangements to find a place to live, to secure clothing, and to obtain a financial source to make sure that you never find yourself in the position you will be on Day 31 by doing nothing. What will you do? Whom will you talk to? Where will you go?

Your comfort zone no longer exists!! Even though you are now FREE from this sentence, you are now as bare as you were when you were born.

• So, you start by making a list of what you need. This list becomes your "why."
• You then continue by determining where to go to get what you need. This list comprises your "who."
• Finally, you put your plans in motion by simply calling your resources, one by one, to put all of your needs with a resource. This, of course, is your "how."

The question that must be asked AT THIS POINT is, "Is your situation dire enough for you to act NOW?" After all, you now have to suffer the ignominy of going to someone else for help...something being in your comfort zone would not normally ever permit!

We all have things that are before us that need to be "fixed" before we can successfully move on in our life.

For instance, do you have something for which you need to atone? Do you believe that perhaps your blessings are being blocked because you are not in a position to deserve them? Does your Pride (comfort zone) deter you from making that first step to accept your responsibility in such a matter?

Facing and thriving in relationships is perhaps life's greatest challenge. How we see ourselves in relation to another is challenge enough but to see ourselves in relation to Christ is something else indeed.

Christ, as a human, gave everything He had for us. When He breathed His last by saying, "Tetelestai (it is finished)," He forgave us all for hating Him and not believing in Him. But, He had to come; He had to die; He had to rise again so that we unworthy beings could be saved from God Almighty's judgment.

The path to success is trod through the lives of someone else whether we like it or not. The walls from that prison cell called your comfort zone must be torn down in order to even get started.

• If you have a phone call to make that you have been fretting, make it.
• If you have to earn some money to escape the tentacles of debt, ask for the sale.
• If you have to forgive yourself (for yourself) in order to seek forgiveness from another, give it.
• If you have to humble yourself in the face of your despair so that you can finally see where your pride has gotten you, then fall to your knees.

Have faith that our Lord wants us to prosper WITH Him. His is the first person's life through which you must trod to get anywhere. Without Him, the Scriptures say we are nothing.

When you do these things, the gates of your cell will be open and you can now live life more abundantly free from the fear and worry that keeps you locked into a comfort zone of misery and mediocrity.

Blessings...