The ‘Comfort’ Algorithm
‘A ship is always safe at the shore, but that’s not what it’s built for.’
Each individual’s life is like that of Sita. We all have a Lakshman Rekha around us. The question lies in what we do about it. Do we stay put or try and help the deer? Yes, the latter has a risk of being… kidnapped by a villain, but it also means that you’re exposed to so many new possibilities that wouldn’t be attainable had you not taken the step outside your safety net.
Comfort zones are like our Lakshman Rekha. They preserve our routine within and expose us to life the moment we choose to step out. There will always be positives and negatives for each decision we take. The final choice lies with us.
Change is the only constant in life; if we stay shielded within our secure environments, we’ll never learn about the realities around us. Living in a utopian bubble sounds terrific, but beyond a point, what’s the fun in that?
I’m not one to talk. I would love to stay in my comfort zone. I’ve lived with the same people, stayed in the same house, attended the same school, and had the same friends for my whole life. But time doesn’t stop. It’s now almost time for it all to change. The culture and routine cultivated over the last seventeen years are going to all get uprooted in the span of months. My friends will be in different parts of the world. Family will be time zones away and confined to little boxes on Facetime. School gates will be replaced by a new town that I will have to navigate alone. The most ironic part is that I’m working day in and day out to change my entire life by filling in college applications.
My point is a lot of us are at a point where we’re being forced out of our comfort zones, whether we like it or not. But what if we hadn’t let it reach this point? We’re so fixed in the ways that even a slight deviation from routine irks us, and we aren’t willing to give it up. It’s the fear of turning our experiences into memories, failing in the new unknown and losing sight of what we’ve worked for that prevents us from breaking free from our little bubble.
We don’t realize that the point of bubbles is to burst them. That’s where the real fun lies. The juvenile joy of popping a bubble is unmatched.
This notion parallels life: we only start having fun when we burst our bubble. Making a conscious effort to leave our comfort zones, however small, can help us in the long run. For example, taking a different route to work one day, eating lunch at another table to interact with new people, or listening to a different music playlist.
The secret is not to leave your comfort zone but to expand it. Mix the idea of comfort and change. Let the fear of a changing routine become an idea that comforts you. And that will only happen if we deliberately take the first step to exit our normal.
Our comfort zones become our prisons, within which our potential stays locked up. Transcending the fear of change will help us unlock self-belief that we didn’t even know we had. By failing, we learn so much more than we would by conforming to our usual lifestyle. We realize our potential, and regardless of the outcome, at least we’re experiencing a possibility that we otherwise wouldn’t.
This article’s primary purpose stems from me trying to convince myself that change will be good. While the extent of this change hasn’t hit me yet, I know it’s approaching at light speed, and I’m going to be ready to make my comfort zone a lot more flexible. I’ve understood the importance of fighting fear with preparedness. I hope this helped you in some way too.
‘That which does not change does not grow. That which does not grow dies.’ Don’t let fear kill something that could so very well blossom into the perfect opportunity.
