Remaining within your limits can be comfortable for some time. After comfort comes conformity, however. And after conformity comes stagnation. Routine ties you up with invisible strings, and cutting them is easier than it seems.
Some aspects of life are made to be static, and we should be reluctant to change them. The sun always rises in the east and sets in the west. Deciduous trees lose all their leaves each autumn, and pumpkin spice lattes won’t ever be outdated (hopefully).
Sometimes the boundaries of your comfort zone sweetly tuck you in like parents singing a child to sleep. You are warm. You are safe.
However, sometimes, it would be best if you didn’t allow yourself to be a part of these interminable loops.
Stagnation can take over our lives. Without noticing, we create imaginary boundaries that asphyxiate us, and a sense of conformity crawls through our lungs. All of a sudden, we have the need to escape and break the limitations we set for ourselves.
Although the limitations of your comfort zone feel safe, is it possible that, without noticing, you fear change? Life is what happens outside your own boundaries. Are you actually experiencing your life if you are at a standstill with routine?
Turning on new lights is frightening when you do not know what you will brighten up. However, this is a risk that everyone who is willing to grow will have to take eventually. To the question, “What if I am making the biggest mistake of my life?” I say: you will never lose. If it turns out well, you win; if it turns out poorly, you learn.
The concept of making mistakes is misunderstood. This is probably due to the feeling of frustration, disappointment and shame that comes with it. It is even worse when you know people are aware of your error.
How many sleepless nights have you spent wondering if they all remember how brainless you were that one time? You might be glad to know that everyone else is going through the same thing.
It is quite egotistic to believe that the rest of the world remembers each time you were not on the correct side. However, you can find relief in this: the planet is so self-centered that nobody is spending their sleepless nights laughing at your confusion. And the truth is that you cannot evolve without making those mistakes.
The fact that you are aware of them is something to be proud of; it means you have learned from it. Now you can look at it as a lesson instead of a humiliating moment that will haunt you for the rest of eternity. Treat yourself as if you were your best friend, forgive yourself and let go.
There is a sense of adrenaline when the comfort zone begins to crumble. You might be confusing anxiety with enthusiasm because they can feel the same.
Each time you believe you know the right answer in class and are willing to raise your hand to speak, each time you go to a restaurant by yourself because you don’t feel like cooking or each time you go to the cinema alone to watch a movie you have been longing to see, other people are not perceiving you the way you perceive yourself. They usually don’t notice.
It is not bad to remain inside of your boundaries if you are certain that this stagnation does not come from trepidation. If it comes from anxiety, though, notice that you can still push through regardless of fearful feelings.
Because that is what it is: a feeling. They are there to warn you about external elements — just in case — and to help you know yourself better. So learn from your feelings, but don't let them control you.
Remember that there is always a place beyond your routine that is waiting for you to experience it: new people, new smells, new feelings and, most importantly, new ideas. Although the path might be rough sometimes, it is always wonderful at the end.
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Alba Sinusia Lozano, graduate teaching assistant for World Languages, Literature and culture, is a columnist for The Plainsman.
