Living Outside the Comfort Zone - An essay by Benjamin Schamel
There are many things that hold the majority of people back in life. There are many decisions that people are afraid to make, lifestyles that are freely given up, spiritual heights and victories that are not achieved because of things such as fear, peer pressure, laziness and lives full of worry, spending their entire life thinking about what other people may think of them. They are afraid to stand out and do something against the grain of the socialistic and modern worldview. If we were to boil this down into one simple subject, the thing that holds people back in life it would be the "Comfort Zone".
As young children each one of us imagine how we will be a great big somebody, a superhero, some great man or woman that will achieve great things, but somewhere along the way we start to lose those dreams and visions for our lives. We start comparing ourselves to the people around us instead of what our full potential is within ourselves. When we take our eyes off of those goals we then start to compromise on our beliefs in our spiritual lives or even give up believing in ourselves that we could accomplish anything more than the average person. We let the fear of things we don't control push us around our entire lives and like the river that winds and wonders through the hills, we follow the path of least resistance taking the easiest road downhill.
In the beginning God didn't create us to live under the bondage of fear, but live in faith and vision in every aspect of our lives. This would not only include the spiritual aspect of our lives, but in our finances, health, family and personal lives. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Even though we all grow older and become more mature, our dreams and ambitions may change, but we should never let go of the visions and dreams for our life. God has a personalized plan for every life and many times we are selling ourselves short by giving up on what we could have done because it is simply outside of our comfort zone.
Every successful person throughout all history had to get outside the comfort zone and do something that would be criticized and took the chance at looking foolish in front of other people. An example of this is Peter when he came to the gate and met the crippled man he said "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give unto thee". Peter had a revelation of faith in his live. He had vision of the impossible coming to pass through the power of the Holy Ghost.
I believe that with how successful the worldly people are working under the law of faith and getting outside their comfort zone how much greater things the bride of Christ could do if we would step outside our comfort zones with the power of the Holy Ghost living inside of us! We should be willing to step out of our comfort zone of "what if it doesn't happen, and what will they think" to knowing that even the impossible is possible with God.
The idea of the comfort zone also applied to our carriers and jobs. Many times we are afraid of taking on more responsibility because we aren't getting paid for it and letting the comfort zone of laziness keep us from moving to greater things.
As it says in the book Mastering the Slight Edge, the only thing between where you are and where you could be is simply a gap. It is a space of nothingness that is full of the unknown. If we could only take hold and realize that the setbacks in life are simply a gap between the problem and the solution, and they could be solved by taking a stand, stepping out of the comfort zone and taking action. We often times let the fear of the unknown keep us in the comfort zone and we waste away settling for less when we don't have to. As he book says, you can gauge the limitations of a person's life by the size of the problems that get him or her down.
Living outside the box, outside the comfort zone is where true freedom is found. If you step outside your comfort zone then you will find that there is true growth and happiness in areas you didn't think possible because you are now letting go of the things that hold you down.
I am going to try to find more ways that I can make myself uncomfortable, to force myself out of complacency and laziness and grow myself in all aspects of life.
As young children each one of us imagine how we will be a great big somebody, a superhero, some great man or woman that will achieve great things, but somewhere along the way we start to lose those dreams and visions for our lives. We start comparing ourselves to the people around us instead of what our full potential is within ourselves. When we take our eyes off of those goals we then start to compromise on our beliefs in our spiritual lives or even give up believing in ourselves that we could accomplish anything more than the average person. We let the fear of things we don't control push us around our entire lives and like the river that winds and wonders through the hills, we follow the path of least resistance taking the easiest road downhill.
In the beginning God didn't create us to live under the bondage of fear, but live in faith and vision in every aspect of our lives. This would not only include the spiritual aspect of our lives, but in our finances, health, family and personal lives. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Even though we all grow older and become more mature, our dreams and ambitions may change, but we should never let go of the visions and dreams for our life. God has a personalized plan for every life and many times we are selling ourselves short by giving up on what we could have done because it is simply outside of our comfort zone.
Every successful person throughout all history had to get outside the comfort zone and do something that would be criticized and took the chance at looking foolish in front of other people. An example of this is Peter when he came to the gate and met the crippled man he said "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give unto thee". Peter had a revelation of faith in his live. He had vision of the impossible coming to pass through the power of the Holy Ghost.
I believe that with how successful the worldly people are working under the law of faith and getting outside their comfort zone how much greater things the bride of Christ could do if we would step outside our comfort zones with the power of the Holy Ghost living inside of us! We should be willing to step out of our comfort zone of "what if it doesn't happen, and what will they think" to knowing that even the impossible is possible with God.
The idea of the comfort zone also applied to our carriers and jobs. Many times we are afraid of taking on more responsibility because we aren't getting paid for it and letting the comfort zone of laziness keep us from moving to greater things.
As it says in the book Mastering the Slight Edge, the only thing between where you are and where you could be is simply a gap. It is a space of nothingness that is full of the unknown. If we could only take hold and realize that the setbacks in life are simply a gap between the problem and the solution, and they could be solved by taking a stand, stepping out of the comfort zone and taking action. We often times let the fear of the unknown keep us in the comfort zone and we waste away settling for less when we don't have to. As he book says, you can gauge the limitations of a person's life by the size of the problems that get him or her down.
Living outside the box, outside the comfort zone is where true freedom is found. If you step outside your comfort zone then you will find that there is true growth and happiness in areas you didn't think possible because you are now letting go of the things that hold you down.
I am going to try to find more ways that I can make myself uncomfortable, to force myself out of complacency and laziness and grow myself in all aspects of life.