Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Another summer vacation has flown by and in less than two weeks we will find ourselves back in school. For me it will be the end of a long journey. A journey that has taken me through a little sheltered life at Northside Methodist Academy to the life of Dothan High. My personality causes me to be loud and probably obnoxious when I am around people I know but when I find myself out of my comfort zone I am quite "uncomfortable".

Everyone has their own comfort zone, a place where they feel accepted and they are able to function in their lives without any strain on themselves. At NMA I found myself so laid back that I rarely listened in classes, I made good grades, and I cut up all the time. Looking back now there are some things that I wouldn't have said or done but I had a good time. Then after my sophomore year my mother proposed a change to DHS. Dothan High School is the largest public school and is notorious for gangs and drugs. The year before I began attending the school was nearly burned to the ground, and I heard that there were more fights during that year than any other. So naturally I thought that going to this type of school was not for me. But the more and more that my mother went up there and checked out the classes I found myself in danger of a school change. With a better academic program DHS won out over NMA, and with that I found myself in public high school.

I wish that I could say that I adapted to it perfectly but I did not. I found myself standing by myself watching as other kids would do what I use to be so good at. By the middle of the year I found myself eating lunch with a group of good kids, but lunch was the only contact I had with them. There were times in the school year that I felt alone and wished someone would come up and start a conversation. There were several other kids that were nice to me but I wanted to be my old self.

I'm not saying all this so you will feel sorry for me. I was in a comfort zone, living every day and never thinking about it twice. As I was in a comfort zone in my physical life we also can find ourselves in a spiritual comfort zone. There could be things that God has planned for our lives but we are too comfortable living in our safe little bubble. I am not going to lie to you, getting out of your comfort zone hurts. There will be times that you feel lonely and times that you just want to fall in the floor crying. But as my educational journey, at this level at least, ends I have found that this was the best thing for me. From an educational standpoint I am being challenged in classes and I am able to take more classes. I know this wasn't a story of radical spiritual change. But spiritual change is the same. It will hurt but in the end you will find yourself on a higher level. So don't be afraid to go deeper than you ever have before. There will be people who say that you can't do it. Some kids in my private school told me that I would get shot for saying something stupid. But you can't listen to them, because if you do you are living the life they have planned for you. Others may not understand that you have to because it is God's will, but in time they will see you living a better life. Then you could find yourself being a trendsetter. So don't become complacent in your life. Step out and do what God has planned for you.

food for thought: Philippians 3:21
book recommendation: The Last of the Breed by Lious L'amour
quote of the post: Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.
King Whitney Jr.