The Comfort Zone - Notes on a Misnomer

A rather simple idea, I've had rattling around in my brain, is how this whole "comfort zone" thing works. First of all, it's not always comfortable; I know it's strange, but having been a big fan of my own comfort zone in the past, I know what I'm talking about. A person can get very comfortable with being uncomfortable, or even stressed, which really says a lot about how easily people (including me) can be rather paradoxically irrational. This is so strange because people love comfort, which is why I thought the "comfort zone" should have a different name. I think it should instead be called the "zone of familiarity" since people love what is familiar and well-known to them as much as, if not more than, comfort.

What keeps people from venturing outside the "comfort zone," or as I like to think of it, the "zone of familiarity," is fear: fear of the unknown. But the unknown really isn't something we should be afraid of, is it? I don't think so, and yet, every now and then, I still find myself falling into this fear trap. What am I afraid is going to happen? The end of the world? Death and dismemberment? Of course none of these things are going to happen and I know this and yet I'm still afraid of something. That something is the unknown, and I know that the unknown is uncomfortable for many people hence the name, "comfort zone." But I can recall, whenever I have a mind to, those times in my life when I have taken the initiative, and a little faith, to take a step outside the "zone" and found that many wonderful things lie beyond my borders.

So I guess what I'm trying to do here, for everyone including myself, is give an admonition: Don't fear the unknown, for what is of the unknown can easily and, without risk, be found out. Live boldly and adventurously! Your life will be the better for it.

As always I'd love to have some comments and/or questions. But until next time, God bless y'all!

Nathan Matthew Knerr