If you are anything like me, it can be easy to let yourself fall into a comfortable place. My comfy spot is the left side of my couch at home with my dog curled up next to me, in the perfect position that makes it accessible to pet his ears just the way he likes it. I like to smell the familiar scent of my house: a mix of whatever Yankee Candle my mom has and slightly damp dog.
Of course I have plenty of other comfortable spots in my life, but that one is my favorite. These places are easy: surrounded by family, hanging out with friends, doing life the way I’ve been doing it. I know these places, things and faces.
However, as a college student, right now is my time to grow and become the ‘real world’ version of who I am going to be for the rest of my life. There are places I want to travel, such as the UK, and sites that I want to see. I want to be able to jump out of a plane and have the exhilarating experience of bungee jumping from a bridge between mountains. I want to be able to have stories for my kids about the ways that I was able to experience life, but I cannot get those stories when I am allowing myself to sit in comfortable, and neither can you.
So it is time to get uncomfy. Technically speaking that is not a word, but for the sake of this article (and most of my life) it is because the word ‘uncomfortable’ makes the hair on my arms stand up.
The reality is, as humans, we have a lot of abilities that we do not even expose ourselves to because we are afraid; afraid to fail, afraid of rejection, sometimes even afraid to succeed at the things we think we cannot do. When I find myself falling into a comfortable pattern, I try to ignore the inner voice in my head or the more literal one (my mom). She can detect the slightest bit of unbalanced in my life before anyone else and she is always the one willing to point it out, and turn me back onto the right path.
I try to avoid the uncomfy conversations, silences and confrontations that I know will lead to the unknown. It can be intimidating to let yourself be in a new and unfamiliar place because you will not know what the next steps are, but usually we know when we are ready to move on from the comfortable, warm, cozy spot we are in because we looking for more, seeking new experiences and striving for better things.
It can be hard to let go of the place you are in right now. The unknown the future holds is terrifying, but the gut feeling you have that it’s time for change, is the hope that what is waiting for you is so much better than what you have right now.
Let yourself live in the uncomfy and see where it takes you. Who knows, maybe you’ll even like it there.