Comfort Zone

Question: “Is it bad to seek comfort?” My initial response was “I don’t think so”.  Before, all I wanted to do was to attain a certain level of comfort. I had the desire to reach a level of comfort in all aspects: in my profession, in my love life and my body image. I felt like aspiring to accomplish these standards was not only very possible but also the norm. What I didn’t realize was that striving for comfort does not lead to progress. In fact, it actually leads to mediocrity.

Since January, I made a point to get out of my comfort zone. It began with changing my mindset. This was by far the hardest step. I had to stop making excuses and start making a way. What quickly followed was going vegan for 45 days. My wife, the so-called vegan, issued a challenge that I gladly accepted (please refer to it in my Challenge post back in July). Lord knows how much I love meat. I would consume some type of dead animal on a daily basis, especially for dinner. There was no way I would have known that agreeing to do that challenge would make me so uncomfortable. Furthermore, I had no idea it would be a catalyst of things to come.

Now I don’t want to bore you with particulars of my mundane job. Nor do I want to share intimate details of my love life. Instead, I’d rather talk about my body image. After years of playing sports at a high level, I had a difficult time transitioning to a more “normal” lifestyle. Since replacing that culture, intensity and community was almost impossible, I found myself not pushing myself the way I used to in my workouts and other physical activities. More so, I was eating the same way which caused me to gain a significant amount of weight. The extra weight didn’t bother me as I believed I was carrying my weight well. Needless to say, I got way too comfortable. To get out of that zone, earlier this year I started watching what I ate by eating less sugar. I ran stairs during my lunch hour on most week days. I increased the intensity of my workouts by reverting to circuit training like I used to do in university. I extended the season of my biking commute to work by going until the first real snowfall which occurred in early November. Recently I began jogging at least three times a week outdoors to replace my biking for the duration of the winter season. In addition, about two weeks ago, I started swimming twice a week before work. If embracing the cold (somewhat) and floating like a rock is not getting out of my comfort zone, then I’m SOL.

Lenard Sémajuste