Comfort Zone

Just got home from work, and it's time to reflect.

10 years ago if you had told me that I would be an elementary school after-school camp leader, I would have laughed at you. I was basically afraid of kids. Not kids themselves, but interacting with them - or, rather not knowing how to interact with them from an older-person perspective.

Flash forward to now- I just got home from talking in front of a group of 20 kids in grades 4 and 5, and I feel like I could do anything right now. That's saying something, coming from an introvert who often suffers from social anxiety.

I think the most valuable thing anyone can do for themselves is to push themselves outside of their comfort zone as frequently as possible. For me, teaching younger kids still is a bit out there - middle school right now is quite in my comfort zone, but I haven't full developed a sense of self-awareness that lets me be 100% at my best with elementary students. So, what better to do than put myself smack in front of them?

We humans are creature of habit - and we're programed to feel good around the familiar. Thanks, evolution. This trait kept us safe back in cave-man days - but these days we really don't have that much to worry about - especially from groups of kids in suburban Canada. Yet, those fright-or-flight emotions still kick up when ever we feel a threat, even socially, like when a group of people rejects us. Back in the day, if you got rejected by your tribe of cave-people, you were as good as dead. Outdated survival programming. The result is that most of us usually choose in favor of conserving energy (another adopted preferred behavior - thanks, evolution. Again.) and we end up sitting in front of the TV or computer most of the time, or going to our usual spots - any activity that feels safe, normal, and comfortable.

But in this day and age, especially where I live, there's really nothing to be frightened of. As a result, you really ought to try and get out and try as much that pushes you out of your comfort zone, especially socially, that you can.

That's my thought of the day.