How often do you leave your comfort zone?

    A couple of years ago, my family planned a trip to Florida. Florida! Warm weather, big beaches, Disney World, and beautiful parks. A trip to Florida would likely excite anyone, wouldn’t it? Well, anyone except me. A new and sudden trip would be out of my comfort zone, and I hate going out of my comfort zone.

    For some reason, the idea of a new experience seems to make me far more uncomfortable than it does to most. Things that other people would likely enjoy, such as driving a car, sleepovers, going to the beach, etc., simply don’t excite me or even make me scared. The possibilities of things going wrong just completely ruin any motivation I had, even though it would likely end up being fun.

    Every time my family asks if I want to go on a vacation, I say I don’t want to, that I’d rather prefer the comfort of my own home rather than a new unfamiliar experience. A completely different environment without all the things I’m familiar with just makes me afraid. Every time my family enters a Chinese restaurant, I order the same food: General Tsao Chicken. They keep telling me to try something different, but I’m afraid of whether I would like it or not, whether I would waste food or not, whether I would have to eat food that I didn’t like the taste of or not. I rarely leave my comfort zone, and if I do, it probably isn’t on my own volition.

    A couple months ago, I was invited to a birthday party with all my old friends from Jefferson. You might think that such a reunion would be great. But I was afraid. All the possibilities of failure ran through my mind. I wondered if they would think I’m weird because of how I changed. I wondered if I wouldn’t know how to talk to them if they changed. I thought they might call me a scaredy-cat, a loser, a stupid nerd. I chickened out, saying I had yet to be fully vaccinated (which to be fair, was true). After the party, they shared pictures and videos, showcasing all the fun they had. I regretted not going, and I told myself that I would go next time.

    I think part of the reason why I may not like leaving my comfort zone is because I’m just too used to this boring lifestyle. I don’t feel a need to seek out excitement because I feel content enough with how my life is now. I’ve also noticed that it's harder for me to get bored compared to my friends. 

    At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Wow, this guy is mad weird.” Believe me, I know, so I've slowly been going out of my comfort zone more and more. Now I’ve expanded my food preferences so I can order Kung Pao Chicken instead of General Tsao Chicken (wow!). I’ve also gotten less worried about how others perceive me and tell myself that I should just do what I want to do.

    Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. My old friends invited me again. This time I mustered up the courage to bring myself out into the wild. I just told myself “screw it”. If things went wrong, then they went wrong, and that’s whatever. When the day finally arrived, I was surprised to see that so many of my friends were just like I remember. We worked out, unboxed the new iPhone, played games, and watched a scary movie in the dark while a hidden mannequin in the corner freaked us out every time we turned our heads. I learned that all my fears were unfounded and that I should take more risks going forward. And, what do you know? That night happened to be the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.