Living Within Your Comfort Zone

In my comfort zone. What is my comfort zone?

That is the question I’ve asked myself the last few days. Earlier this week I was in a conversation about being full, being stuffed, being satisfied, and being comfortable. I began to assess what my comfort zone entailed. Of course the conversation was about eating. I was sharing I have not felt “full” but maybe half a dozen times in the last year. I’ve rarely felt stuffed (thank God for wisdom) and I often feel satisfied. As long as I eat slow enough to listen to my body I end up satisfied. I don’t really get hunger pains, which is good because if I did I’m sure I would end up over eating to the stuffed stage. I guess it all narrows down to knowing your body and it’s signals.

Now let’s talk about other kinds of comfort zones.

The comfort you feel with a special friend. Someone you can share anything and everything with and not worry about being judged or rejected even if your opinions differ. I have the pleasure of saying I have friends like that. I’ve also had friends I was comfortable being with, yet not “settled” like the friendship I just mentioned. They are comfortable, but not as secure in feeling totally safe.

The comfort of doing what brings you happiness. I have a job I really enjoy. There are times of course when I hate the particular day, but overall the work place/job is very satisfying for me. I certainly am not looking for another line of work. I have been a dispatcher/911 operator for over 20 years; 13 of them in Salina. I have been involved in law enforcement for over 25 years. I left it for 2 years and returned because I realized how much I missed dispatching. That is a rare and blessed gift to figure out what brings you enjoyment and make a living at it.

The comfort of being who you are. As I get older I feel more and more comfortable with whom I am. I don’t have to pretend or try to be something in order to “fit in”, be accepted or popular. It takes a lifetime to feel totally comfortable with whom you are. I’m not saying my life is over by a long shot, but I certainly am comfortable at a level I have never seen. I credit this to my weight loss and where it has taken me in the last year.

I also credit it to another factor; my relationship with God. As I daily walk and work on that relationship I grow to accept and appreciate myself. God doesn’t make junk. How many times have you heard that and thought, “What a sweet phrase”? Well, I’ve come to believe that phrase. As I open up to Him and allow him to lead me, the more I accept my short comings and struggles and victories. One of those victories is my progress in health. He lead me to surgery and he has lead me daily with the sometimes struggles of being healthy. I have to find my comfort zone with food.

Sometimes your comfort zone is not a positive thing. Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone to stretch yourself and grow. Meeting new people and developing new friends. Adding a new angle to your job to challenge yourself. You don’t necessarily have to get a new job, but tackle a new aspect of your current job. Sometimes you may have to actually find a different job. That may challenge you to get out of your comfort zone all together. Stretching yourself beyond that comfort zone within yourself. This may encompass doing something you aren’t proficient in but always wanted to try. You may have to put yourself front and center, or maybe in the background and give up control; whatever that comfort may be.

For me in regards to my weight journey, it means realizing I may be getting into too much comfort with what I am doing and what I am eating. I am evaluating what I am doing and realizing I am becoming very blasé in my eating. I have fallen back into some bad habits, bad choices and gotten comfortable in them again. I have to become sharp again in my resolve to make the best choices I can and make the most of those choices. Just to give an example, I had the choice of onion rings or fries with some chicken I was ordering. Wow, what a choice, especially since I had just told my dinner companion that the onion rings really looked yummy, but I better move on to something else. Well, in my hesitancy to decide between my options, my friend had the forethought to suggest broccoli instead, full well knowing that would not be an option for me. So she then suggested some cauliflower, a more likely choice, but…. She then suggested a salad. Is she a wise friend or what? Yes, I opted for the salad. Now I really know why I consider her one of my best supports! It is these small comforts that I have to nab onto and solidify. It is the bad comforts of even pondering the rings or fries I have to change. It is those small decisions that can trip us up. As another wise friend and great supporter reminded me last week, even a small amount adds up.

Another area my comfort zone got me in trouble was with my relationship with God. As I got more and more comfortable I became less and less diligent at putting time into the relationship. As I began to realize that, I began to invest more time and energy into the relationship and it began to grow and strengthen. Once again I am having to reevaluate the activity on my part. God never changes and continues to be there, give the effort and time. It is I that is the slacker. So I am having to reinvent my resolve and “beef up” my dedication to the relationship. My comfort zone became so comfortable I was beginning to take advantage of it.

So as you can see your comfort zone can become so comfortable it is no longer healthy or sustaining. Sometimes it needs to be stretched and challenged and a new comfort zone will develop and we will grow as a person. We will become stronger and healthier.

So as I walk this journey in this new life style and as my year of post surgery advances, I pray I will stretch my zone to a newer level of comfort. I know I can eat more in one setting so I will have to watch what I eat, how much I eat and how often I eat. I will have to make wise choices. I will have to change my perspective of comfort in regards to acceptance of types of foods, contents of foods and amounts of foods. When I decided to have surgery I knew it was just a tool. I also knew I had hoped my days of counting calories, weighing food, etc. was over, but as I advance to the next stage of progress I find it is still a part of life. That doesn’t mean it has to be a dreaded task. My perspective will allow me to embrace it and take it for what it is worth---a healthier life.

I thank my friends and family for being there to support me. I plan to “drag” you along into my new comfort zone. I also hope that if that comfort becomes a negative instead of a positive you will help me to see it is once again time to stretch myself and challenge myself to the next level of comfort. Isn’t life fun when you are growing? Sometimes living within your comfort zone is advancing to the next level!

Dead ends don't exist.
Back up, turn around and take a different road.
You may become completely lost for awhile, but you will find the way.
There is always another way.
~L'Tanya Gail Durante~