Chris Powell of Extreme Weightloss made a statement on an episode of the show. He said “Life begins just outside of your comfort zone.” Is that not a powerful statement to make? It is one of the most true things I have ever heard. It really hit me hard as sometimes I get set in my ways and forget that life really does begin when I leave my comfort zone behind.
We watched an inspiring episode last year of the show. Jacqui weighed 355 lbs when she began the show. Her goal weight to lose in one year was 200 lbs. Her goals were broken into 90 day segments and every time she weighed in she met her goal. She was very inspiring. She had so much to go through in order to get to her goal. She could have used so many excuses but she was tired of where she was. She decided to leave her comfort zone behind and it changed her life.
Wikipedia says that a Comfort Zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk (White 2009).[1] A person’s personality can be described by his or her comfort zones. Highly successful persons may routinely step outside their comfort zones, to accomplish what they wish. A comfort zone is a type of mental conditioning that causes a person to create and operate mental boundaries. Such boundaries create an unfounded sense of security. Like inertia, a person who has established a comfort zone in a particular axis of his or her life, will tend to stay within that zone without stepping outside of it. To step outside a comfort zone, a person must experiment with new and different behaviors, and then experience the new and different responses that then occur within their environment.
Are you allowing your comfort zone to control you? It is really easy to do. We all want comfort in life and there is nothing wrong with that as long as that doesn’t dictate what you do in life. Being comfortable and doing nothing don’t have to live together as long as you keep striving. But remember not to get too comfortable as that is when we let our guards down and drop the ball.
Many people get settled into their life after a few years and just decide this is all there is. Why would you do that? Because you value your comfort zone more than anything. It’s time to leave your comfort zone behind so that you can be all that God created you to be.
God has big plans for your life but those plans will never happens as long as you stay in your comfort zone. Will it be easy to leave it behind? Of course not, but it is well worth it. Your life will start when you finally decide to leave your comfort zone and do something you have never done. Imagine how your life can be? Imagine where God can lead you if you just get comfortable with being uncomfortable?
When we get to the point in life where we decide that we will get comfortable with being uncomfortable, that is when our lives will change. We can’t change our lives until we get there. As long as you value your comfort zone, you will never step out on Faith and go where God leads you. You will just talk the talk but you won’t be walking the walk.
How many times do you see people talking the talk then find them 3 months later and they are talking another talk? I am betting a lot of times. Do you lose respect for that person some? Of course we do. Granted we shouldn’t judge but we as humans want to see people back their talk up with action. We get tired very fast of hearing the same people talk about what they are going to do. Either do it or shut up! Isn’t that how you feel?
Well imagine all those times you did the exact same thing? Yes I am talking about myself in this too. This is a hard one for me too as I have talked a ton over the years and sometimes I back it up but others times I am just all talk.
It is time that we start backing our talk up with action and leave our comfort zone behind. The comfort zone is killing our creativity. The longer we talk without taking action, the deeper it wounds our heart. We can’t talk the talk forever, eventually our heart gets sick and then we start to lose hope.
The longer we are in our comfort zone, the more we will lose our hope. Hope is what God created in us so that we can live a joyous life. Without hope we lose all joy. There is a difference between joy and happiness. Joy comes from God where happiness comes from external things. We can be happy in the moment but joy is in us no matter what happens to us.
Our comfort zone can destroy the joy in us. Have you gotten too comfortable? Have you decided that life is just what it is? Have you made your family believe that hope is a bad thing?
I hear many people say don’t get your hopes up. They justify it as if you don’t hope then you won’t be let down. They have already succumbed to their comfort zone. Their comfort is telling them that we should not hope because we don’t want to be let down.
When your hope is fully in Christ then we can’t be let down. Yes circumstances beyond our control will still happen but our hope will never be lost.
Proverbs 13:12 – Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
The bible backs up that we need to not lose hope. When we do our lives always change for the worse. But remember that before we lose hope, we settle for our comfort zone.
Ask God to make you uncomfortable! Ask him to give you the courage to step outside of your comfort zone so that you can finally live the life he called you to live. God’s calling is never within our comfort zone. Ask him to give you the strength when things get tough outside of your comfort zone as they always will. Ask him to protect your heart from your comfort zone so that you can live the joyous life he has for you.
Be Inspired or Be Left Behind!
Chris Benton