Welcome to the Uncomfortable Zone

Hey Loves,

Happy 4th of July Eve!  U-S-A...U-S-A...U-S-A!  

So today according to my bloggie challenge is doing things outside of my comfort zone.  I have to say that I do have a pretty wide comfort zone.  I'm a chatty lady and I frequently find myself talking to random people.  Usually I start chatting up people who have an interesting or cute article of clothing.  I've held a number of jobs dealing with customer service so I'm pretty comfortable with people, confrontation, and weird situations.  There are a few things that I'm working on being comfortable with.


1.  Eating alone in public.  We all remember the episode of Friends where Rachel tries to eat alone and ends up canceling a date with a doctor because of it.  Well I hate eating alone in public.  At home or in college I would eat alone all the time.  Usually because I had a weird schedule with dance, work, class, etc.  But recently I've been pretty good about getting out of my comfort zone (hello daily lunch with RHOC) and have ventured to Panera for solo coffee dates.  Apparently I'm not sure I like me enough for a *real* date :)

2.  Blogging about sad things/things I failed at.  Rereading my old posts you would think I lived under a rainbow and had a unicorn butler (I had to let him go for financial reasons...darn you economy).  It wasn't real and it wasn't a real reflection of my life.  I would not have dared to write about my failures or times when I was unsuccessful in a public forum.  I would be too embarrassed.  I'm supposed to succeed--that's what I do!  I'm a successful person!  Buuuuuut, I've learned that success is not something I am going to have every day.  (Unless you call demolishing some chocolate every day a success because then I'm a winner winner!)  Also, success doesn't bring people together.  Failures do.  Failures are relatable and human.  Some of my most read blog posts are about times I face planted all over life.  I think people like them because they're honest and they remind people of times when they did not succeed or things didn't go their way.  I know I find other bloggers' honest-not-so-great-day posts so much more relatable and real than fluffy ones.  I'm trying to do more *real* posts here.  All the feedback from readers, friends, and family make me feel so much better about stepping out of my comfort zone in blogging.

3.  Half-Marathoning!  I am not a great runner, but I do love to run.  Something about just being alone with the pavement and my iPod really makes me happy!  I started actually running last summer and fell in love with it.  I had recently realized that I needed to end a relationship and without teaching dance, I needed a new athletic outlet.  (There's a saying what's bad for the heart is good for the art and let me tell you it is totally true!  I was a much better choreographer when I was living in the Break-Up Aftermath) I started running.  Running away from the heartbreak, the tears, the sadness, the anger, all of it.  It just wasn't there when I ran.  I began running to things as opposed to running away from things.  Running to healthy, running to self-esteem, running to confidence that had been lost, running for me.  I loved running so much that I began researching races in Philly that I could partake in.  I signed up for the Philly Rock&Roll Half Marathon in September and in 2 weeks I'll sign up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando!  Training for my halves (halfs? idk) has been great.  It's a great feeling to look forward to a goal and it will be a great accomplishment for me!  If you had asked me last January if I would ever run, let alone run in a race, I would have laughed you to Hawaii and back.  I'm not a great runner but that doesn't matter because it's not about that.

4.  Turning Down A Job.  I've written about the time I turned down a job I was offered because I did not feel like it was my home.  My teaching home, my classroom, my future.  That decision was the single hardest thing I have ever done in my adult life.  If I accepted that job I knew I would be settling right into my comfort zone and something in me said don't do it!  I listened to that little voice and so far that little voice has led me to 3 rejections and 3 more interviews.  Not too shabby.  Teaching jobs in NJ are few and far between and believe me I struggled with that decision for days.  I know that I'm right where God wants me to be and that He has a plan for me.  But saying no to a job with benefits and personal days?  That was hard and something I've never done before.  I was the girl in college with 3 jobs.  Even though I am currently enjoying a nice summer off from a strict 9-5 job, I still am babysitting and tutoring weekly.  I like working and turning down that job was wayyyyyyy outside of my comfort zone.

So there you have it.  My 3 Step Outside My Comfort Zone Moments for 2014.  I hope y'all are stepping outside your comfort zone.  It's not so scary out there.  I think we've all heard that quote, "Everything you want is right outside your comfort zone"-Robert Allen, and I think it holds true.  If we're not willing to take a risk we won't ever know.  Not knowing is more painful than knowing--even if what you learn/know is not great.

xoxo,

Er