"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." ~ Neale Donald WalschI have often said that I am not an expert on anything except for the sum of my life experiences and that I believe that we can all learn from one another. That being said, I must confess that I have learned a lot about myself within the last week. While not going into too much detail about the circumstances that led up to my learning, I believe that I've made some progress toward living a life well lived.
Over the years, my brain has become very proficient at convincing me that I can't do certain things anymore. Coming up with countless excuses which seem somewhat reasonable became my brain's biggest hobby. I'm not sure how this got started or why I let it go on for so long but I did. The result was a fifty something year-old man with a lack of confidence. What I've learned is that all of my fears, the things that robbed my confidence and convinced me that I couldn't do the things that I once could, are totally fictional. These fictional fears filled my head with tons of excuses that paralyzed my ability to improve or try new things; eventually robbing me of the ability to enjoy life.
As I faced some of my fears, I realized that I had been underestimating my skills, talents and abilities. Conversely, I was overestimating the power of my potential obstacles. What I thought was impossible turned out to be doable and exhilarating. I learned that sometimes you need to let go of being in control and step out on the edge. Sometimes you need to mute the voice that is encouraging you to give up or is telling you that you can't do something and just do it. We all have the ability to do incredible things; we sometimes just lack the confidence and need a little encouragement.
Here's something else that I learned... Living a comfortable life isn't exciting. When I think back to all of the days that I wasted by not challenging myself to improve my life, the magic of my comfortable life becomes replaced with bitter regret. It took going to the top of a mountain and repelling down the other side to help me realize that once I step out of my comfort zone and commit to making progress every day that there is this incredible feeling of accomplishment that begins to grow within and helps me to wake up each morning excited to conquer the day.
So, I as begin this self-improvement journey, I think I finally understand that most of my obstacles are in my own head and that all of my past struggles are just that - in the past. As I move forward, it's all about my perspective and my attitude. Whatever I do, it's fully up to me.
Be Well.
Bill
