Facing challenges, big and small, is an important part of life and our personal growth. Today I want to share some of my thoughts about it because recently I have been thinking quite a lot about how challenges or scary things have a powerful ability to shape us. Well, I suppose it's our response to the challenges or scary things actually that have the powerful effect on our minds. Hopefully this post can inspire you in some way to begin facing challenges, or things fears, no matter how big or small they are and continue to step outside the scary place known as the comfort zone. If you already do this in your daily life, I hope you can join in and offer some stories or tips in the comments to inspire others.
Here is what got this train of thought started in my little brain. While in Estonia last week, I really wanted to get away from the town center and visit a waterfall that I had read about. After asking the hotel staff for their local tips on how to get there, we came to the conclusion that the best (and cheapest) option would be to rent a car.
Eeeeeeeeeekkkkkk!
I had my international drivers license but I hadn't actually driven a car in 5 months, since before moving to Italy and my default driving setting is on the opposite side of the road in Australian driving conditions. Would it all come back like riding a bicycle? Would I accidentally drive on the wrong side of the road again like when I moved to America? Did I remember what all of the road signs meant? I naturally don't enjoy driving very much so the thought of spontaneously getting behind the wheel for a road trip in Europe was scary to me.
And once I realized that I was scared, I knew that I absolutely had to do it.
This is but one example of a situation I have faced many times and each time I have thought the same thing. This is how I face many things when I feel scared because if I didn't do everything that scares me, my life would be ruled by King fear and Queen anxiety. The Prince and Princess of unfulfillment would probably be hanging around in the background too. From big things like skydiving, starting a blog, traveling alone or taking on challenging hikes to the little daily things like teaching myself to drive in America, doing a triathlon, going to my first Italian jazzercise class or even meeting new people, I try to do something that scares me every day. In fact, I actively chase those things.
Now, don't get me confused. I am not a fearless, adrenaline junkie thrill seeker in any sense. Far from it! A lot of times these scary things are the little everyday things for me. Some days it is easier than others and some days I might put it off for tomorrow. I'm not perfect and every now and then I even shy away from them. I always make sure to recognize if something is challenging or scaring me and try to push myself to giving as much of them as possible a go. I can't imagine a life hiding away in the comfort zone and, in fact, it's one of my worst nightmares.
I don't know about you, but I feel as though I see an increase in people who are faced with anxiety or depression issues. Is it an overused term, are more people facing these issues or is it simply more acceptable to speak about it - I don't know. But I do have to wonder if our comfortable lives and love for the comfort zone could be blamed for the increase in people feeling lost, overwhelmed and without confidence in themselves.
Our daily lives are so incredibly comfortable that we are not facing as many challenges anymore. Seriously, we live in a time that is more comfortable than ever before. In this day and age of participation trophies, we don't even face the challenge of losing at something anymore. However, I think this is one of our problems and reasons for the rise in anxiety because let's face it, we need discomfort more than we think. How else are we possibly meant to improve, learn and grow? If we are not having to face our fears because life is so god damn easy, how are we meant to get stronger?
Facing challenges is an incredibly powerful thing. When we get uncomfortable and face something challenging, something that scares us, our body is pushed to perform - and remember that you are capable of more than you think you are. We gain confidence from facing these things instead of running away from them and we get stronger with each challenge. In our minds, we gain credibility with ourselves. That little voice in the back of your head which used to offer you 1856 reasons why you will fail/it is scary/we should just stay inside knows that you have handled scary things before so you can do it again. And if that annoying voice does pop up, you know you can say 'thanks for the tips, now can we move on with what we are doing' instead of caving in to that voice.
This is how we become like those strong and seemingly fearless people we admire.
I firmly believe that it is important to seek discomfort, to enjoy the process of feeling uncomfortable because you know that is the home of growth. So what can we do about it? Find something, big or small, that scares or challenges you every day and run at it head on. Ok maybe just jog. At the very least walk towards it timidly! However you do it, zip down the comfort zone tent and get yourself outside to face something challenging or scary. I promise you this is how you will develop. This is how you can become a stronger individual. It is a powerful anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medicine.
What do you think - Are our comfortable lives making it harder for us to overcome challenges?
Share your story of overcoming challenging or scary things so we can all be inspired by your badass-ness!