While people may be aware of the term “comfort zone”, it’s human nature to notice it more in others than in ourselves. That man always wears the same bland color of clothes, we think. Doesn’t he have any imagination? Or that woman who goes to the same store every week to buy the same thing for Sunday dinner — might her family want something different for a change?
My EFT (“tapping”) teacher Carol Look talks about comfort zones with regard to money, and also weight. If you doubled your income, this could bring alarm instead of celebration. You might make a risky investment to “accidentally” lose some of your new fortune, and to re-enter your familiar comfort zone. The same is true of losing weight. Once in working with a client who wanted to shed some excess pounds, we discovered the only time she binged was when the number on the scale was lower than usual. Something about that didn’t feel safe to her.
Have you ever thought you might have a visual comfort zone? This could be feeling “naked” without your glasses, or not wanting to be the only clear-sighted person in your near-sighted family. Or say you’ve always worn contact lenses, putting up with the hassle of cleaning them and replacing them. You pretend you have no problems with your eyesight — most people don’t even know you wear contacts. If you get eyeglasses, which you can easily take off whenever you want to free your vision, everyone will see your “defect”! Or maybe you remember another child saying you looked smarter, way back when you first got glasses, so you don’t want to remove them now and look less intelligent!
As with most things, this is about awareness, and personal choice. Some of the most rewarding and exciting activities may lie outside your comfort zone. You won’t ever experience them if you keep “playing it safe”. If the thought of removing your eyeglasses fills you with fear, that’s good to know. You can go as slowly as you want to. Challenge yourself: try taking your glasses off for a short experimental walk around the block. You can keep them in your pocket, to put back on whenever you feel the need. Baby steps are better than no steps! You might just surprise yourself. As the old saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Wouldn’t expanding your comfort zone feel like a great personal victory?
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I wore strong glasses, then contact lenses, from age 5 into my 40s. While making many mistakes, eventually l learned how to improve the way I use my eyes and to see in a more relaxed, healthy manner. It is my pleasure to coach others to do the same. Visit me at https://NancyLNeff.com.
So wise, as always, dear Nancy!
Thank you, my wise friend! 🙂