ZanPackard.com Safety Zone

Home
About Zan
Blog
Contact Us

Simple Techniques Powerful Results Lifelong Journey

ZanPackard.com

The Adventurous Introvert ™

Founder of Women Alive! ™

Zan Z. Packard, M.A.

The Adventurous Introvert ™

Are You Following me

on Facebook and Twitter?

Monthly Newsletter:

The Journey Within Newsletter

Safety Zone

A while back a friend of mine shared a message she had received from an email source. Simply stated, the thought was "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Wow, not good news for those of us who cling to safety as a survival mode. I totally get it now, but those words took me back years, to a hand-written sign in a colleague's office: "Do one thing each day that scares you". Just reading those words, at the time, brought a stab of fear to me, but I really admired her for embracing that concept. It was, however, the last thing I wanted to do. I even found myself avoiding looking at that side of her office-I had mastered the art of filling my days with a ton of 'must do' things. All of which were well within my comfort zone. I was too busy to take risks. I had no time to face fear.

Somewhere along the way from my colleague's office to my friend's email I realized that I was drowning in my safety zone. It was crammed full. Over-brimming really, with all the tasks I had taken on. Saying "yes" to all those safe little necessities that needed doing. I became the master juggler, multi-tasking with the best of them. Planning for the future, yet always missing today. How did life get like this, too busy to even take a moment to do something different, fun and yes, even risky?

Did I say "yes" to too many things because I wanted to do them, or was I really trying to avoid having the time to face my fears and take risks? I wasn't sure at first, but I knew I needed to downsize my task list so that's where I started. As I cleared out a task, I kept that time slot open. I did not fill it with another "yes" task. Eventually I had the luxury of having too much time on my hands, but still I waited. I was officially (and for the first time in many years) bored, bored, bored. I was ready for adventure. I was ready to start taking risks. But what did that mean, really? Move to Italy? Take up skydiving? Drive cross-country by myself? What about those small risks like going to the movies alone, or signing up for a yoga class, or saying "No" because you really don't want to? Didn't those rate too?

So I realized that I had to define adventure. I knew that if I was on an adventure I would be taking risks, but what is an adventure...to me...really? So I went back to my first lesson that I've been teaching others--look at your past life events that determine today's behavior-- and I changed the focus of the lesson by remembering all the adventures I'd had in my life. With those memories well in hand I began the task of seeing not only what they have in common, but perhaps more importantly, what the feelings were that each one brought to me. My task is to identify and sit with those feelings I hold dear. I'm still defining adventure...still looking for ways to stretch myself...still seeking the end of my comfort zone and embracing life...that is my next step. Is it yours?