It can be easy to catch yourself up in a comfort zone or rut, a pattern of living your day-to-day life one way with little variation. Which isn’t so bad – it’s predictable and safe. However, it can also prevent you from enjoying new experiences, growth opportunities, and finding new ways to do things. Where do you land when it comes to this – do you live a predictable life or one of much variation?
New Experiences
What I have found is that when I live my daily life in pretty much the same way day after day, while predictable, it gets a little boring for me. The days start to blend together and I find I am going through life on rote mode instead of fully experiencing all that life has to offer.
To ensure that I am inserting new experiences into my life daily, weekly, and monthly, I do self-checks quite often. I ask myself why I am still doing something a certain way (Is there a better way now?); I question if there’s a new route to University or school that might offer better scenery and perhaps an opportunity to meet new passersby; and I look at my day as a whole and see how I can mix it up a bit.
Growth Opportunities
Changing things up is a great way to provide ourselves with growth opportunities. And it’s never too late to learn new things! I find that when I explore new avenues (literally or figuratively) my eyes get opened in new ways, I see things in a brighter light, and I often learn about things I would not have otherwise.
To the contrary, if I stay in my safe circle of activities, not much changes. I don’t learn much new – that’s already been done. And I don’t see new perspectives or reach a new circle of potential friends.
New Ways to Do Things
Lastly, I have found that by mixing things up a bit I have learned new, easier way to do things I do daily or weekly repeatedly. It can be a time-saver for me in many ways. Sometimes it also has eliminated having to manually do the task all together! Plus, learning a new skill allows me to teach a friend it as well. I find I get a lot of energy from helping my friends and family.
But… There is Extra “Safety” in Living in your Comfort Zone
However, all that said, staying in our comfort zone sometimes is the best option. Sometimes we need that safety. At times our outside world is spinning so fast we need the safety and comfort that a “rut,” so to speak offers. In times like these, I lean into my rut and hold on tight until I feel it’s safe to venture out again. So, in short, ruts aren’t so bad, but there’s a lot to be said for exploring outside your pattern of daily activities too.
What has been your experience?
Where to you like to sit? Are you one to mix things up all the time? Some of the time? Or do you prefer to stay in your comfort zone? Is your life hectic enough without proactively venturing out for new things? Or do you actively seek out change?
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