Get Outside

As a college student the proverbial "they" say that professors challenge your beliefs and some students often lose their faith. I've not encountered much of this "challenge" since coming to Auburn but this morning I was hit in the face with some truth. "The blessing is outside your comfort zone." (Our professor said it was from a podcast about running by Krista Tippett. I've not listened to it yet, but I've downloaded it to listen to).

Oh.

See I'm the person that orders the same things at restaurants, parks in the same spot, I like routines, patterns, I'm the person who loves to live in the comfort zone. I don't like change. Becoming a teacher will have some routines, but the everyday life will throw that routine out the window a lot of the time.

But what good came from staying where you're currently at? No great athlete got to where they were by sitting on the couch just being, they pushed, they worked, they achieved. No great writer stayed content by just writing and not improving, or being denied by lots of publishers, no "great" got to be great by just being complacent with where they stood.

I'm not saying this is the formula to be "great" but going beyond your comfort zone brings new experiences, people, and opportunities that wouldn't come your way if you stayed where you were comfortable. Getting out into the world is something that might not be fun, or easy, but the reward is normally worth the risk of venturing outside your comfort zone. The people who didn't give up, didn't go home, and didn't take no for an answer are the ones we recognize as "great."

So maybe going that extra mile really is worth it in the end.