It’s been a chilly week in Northern Ireland so our electric blanket had been utilised to full effect. Slipping between the covers now at night is reminiscent of sliding into a hot bath, without the whole getting wet business. The only problem comes the next morning when you are forced to abandon your toasty environment to face the raging wind and rain outside on the daily commute to Belfast.
This is a necessary evil as it pays the bills….and Santa. I don’t want to get up and would much rather stay under the covers, warm and safe. It is my comfort zone and such places are hard to vacate, especially when you see what is waiting for you on the other side. It’s a no brainer but duty and responsibility unfortunately kick in to force you to throw back the sheets, leave your safe place and face whatever the day has to throw at you.
I’m getting better at stepping out of my comfort zone but this has only developed after a lifetime of trial and error. Many view the comfort zone as a cushy number but it can often be the most dangerous place in the world. Comfort can mean making the wrong choices or no choice at all. Comfort can mean rolling over and giving in to the various vices and urges vying for attention in our addled minds.
Comfort can equate to a death of the self, it’s listening to that voice in your head forever telling you that you’re not good enough and you’ll never amount to anything. It’s a barren, risk averse desert of nothing masquerading as the greatest show on earth. It’s smoke and mirrors, a lie wrapped within a riddle, feeding on inertia and indecision. It craves the status quo where you give in and back down.
It all boils down to personal choice. You can choose the safe option which isn’t safe at all when you stop and think about it. You can surrender to your addiction, hand anxiety and depression the key to your mind and wave the white flag in abject surrender. Comfort can be an object or a person, sucking you dry, not allowing you to realise your full potential. Ambition is stymied and hope extinguished.
Or you can fight back by wiggling a cosy toe out from under the blankets and embracing the cold. It’s not very nice to begin with but persevere for that is where your future lies. Beyond the initial chill lies the world, a world that offers genuine warmth and satisfaction way above the artificial version offered by your electric strait jacket. Real heat comes from within, you don’t attain it by flicking a switch.
Are you too comfortable?
Black Thoughts 
Very true,
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Thank you 😊
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Great post, Stephen. It’s important not to get comfortable in our old selves, especially as Christians.
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Definitely Shae. Hope you’re well 👍🏻
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Yes I am! I’m on Christmas break. ☺
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I’m hoping to get up on your posts soon 🙂
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Never comfortable… oh wait you weren’t talking of pain lol. Good subject great points! Thank you.
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Thank you lol
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Great encouragement, particularly here in the Northern U.S. where we’ve been shrouded in clouds, cold and snow. Thanks.
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A favourite quote of mine relates to this: Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius on getting out of bed in the morning. “At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work – as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for – the things I was brought into the world to do?
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Marcus Aurelius knew what he was talking about 😂
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Great post. It reminds me of a training bit I did for staff a few years back naming complacency as our greatest enemy. I think I’ll revive it as much of my staff has changed since then. I may add a couple new quotes to the original if I can get the author’s permission. I found a couple gems this morning. “It’s a barren, risk averse desert of nothing masquerading as the greatest show on earth.” and “Real heat comes from within, you don’t attain it by flicking a switch.” I’ll proudly cite Stephen Black as the author. Good stuff, my friend.
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Thank you. I’m honoured 😊
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Excellent post. My “lifetime of trial and error” has lasted a little longer than yours. It’s for that reason that I push myself outside my comfort zone and take risks even when I feel vulnerable because of my age. I want to make sure that, in the words of a friend, I “wring every bit out of life”. Thanks for the reminder, Stephen.
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You’re very welcome. Thank you for sharing.
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Crucial and outstanding. Well spoken.
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Thank you Brendan.
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Sometimes I stay in bed, comfortable and safe. There are days I need to recover, recharge and renew my willingness to go out and face that which frightens me. But I do it – I face the storm, the demons, or whatever metaphor seems to be the best. I’m more ME when I do. And you know what? I’m worth that effort!
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Good for you!
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Great post! I often have a hard time getting up in the morning.
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Thank you. Don’t we all.
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Some of us fear the unknown, so stepping out of our comfort zone is doubly scary. Encouraging post
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Thank you. Keep stepping out 🙂
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