Battling Complacency by Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

My dad recently commented that he had never had to learn his way around a new place because he had lived in the same area for his entire life.  That got me to thinking about all the times I have had to learn my way around new places, and there have been a lot. 

I’ve had to find my way around places where I couldn’t even understand the road signs, but somehow, I did it and did it pretty well.  Even without the convenience of GPS and my fancy navigation system in my car, I managed to drive all over Italy, Crete, and even into France.  I drove all over San Diego and the East Coast with only a Rand McNally Road Atlas (you know, those giant books we had with each state on a different page?  Yeah, I loved that thing!). 

This wasn’t always easy or fun.  Sometimes, I struggled, like the time I got lost on the side of Mount Vesuvius and had to back down the mountain, or got stuck in the traffic circle exiting I95 in New Hampshire (In my defense, I had never seen a traffic circle – “roundy round” as I called them, and still do!).  My struggles, though, were merely a result of being out of my comfort zone. 

It is easy to become complacent in our lives.  We have our home, our family, our friends, our job, and our community.  We shop in the same stores, drive the same routes, and eat in the same restaurants. Many people even travel to the same places for the same vacations, year after year.  Why?  We do it because it’s what we know, it’s comfortable.  But, is it healthy?  Are we really living, or just going through the motions?

When I moved to Crete the year before I retired from the Navy, I was not happy.  This was the first move that I wasn’t excited about at all.  I had been living in Southeast Georgia for three years.  I was stationed at the same base where my brother was homeported, so I had my family right there, and we did everything together.  I watched my niece go from being a precocious toddler to a sweet pre-schooler.  I was there when my nephew was born.  Life was good, and I was happy.  And, then, the Navy plucked me from my life and plopped me down on an island in the Med, almost six thousand miles from “home”. 

I was a fish out of water, and a pissed off fish at that!  I couldn’t even attempt to read the road signs…  they were all Greek to me!  😊  I was completely out of my comfort zone, and I was bound and determined to just “suck it up” until it was time to go back home and retire.  I started counting down the days immediately.  I wanted complacency.  I wanted comfort.  What I got was so much more…

I had always wanted to learn to SCUBA dive, but had always found reasons not to do it (too busy, too expensive, etc).  Being on Crete gave me the opportunity to get certified, and I spent most summer weekends underwater, exploring the depths of the Mediterranean.  It was pure joy.  When I wasn’t diving, I was often exploring the island in my newly purchased Jeep with my best friend, Grubby.  As the weather turned cooler, and the days passed, I would often go WII Bowling with Nicole at the Navy Exchange on Sunday afternoons.  The friendships I developed on Crete became some of the best and realest I’ve ever had, and they were the result of being out of my comfort zone. 

I had to go to Crete to learn that I was becoming complacent in my life, that I had stopped being adventurous and stopped learning new things, and that my sobriety was fragile and I had better take it seriously.  I had to go all the way to Crete to meet the love of my life, the man who would later become my husband. 

It is only when we step out of our comfort zone that we learn what we are truly made of, how strong we are, and how to live life with meaning.  By stepping out of our comfort zone, we open our eyes to the world around us, and as we begin to see people for who they are, we begin to accept them for who they are.  We begin to love them for who they are.  We become educated in the ways of the world and in life.  We stop accepting complacency, and start embracing change.  We start growing, and stop merely existing.