Stretch Yourself And Live Life! Come Alive!

Come alive! That is the way 80% of Australians describe their lives ... and another 10% won't admit it. Less than an estimated 10% of our citizens consider their lifestyle acceptable and pleasant. - That is - only one in ten people are satisfied with their lot in life. Some consider it exciting - others merely consider it as non-boring!

Simple .....they are prepared to live outside their own personal comfort zone. If you do NOTHING to stretch your talents, thinking patterns, knowledge, experience, and inter-action with others, you are living INSIDE your own comfort zone. You are living on your own personal Island....welcome to boredom!!

But, if you are prepared to push yourself slightly, life takes on a new meaning. Take the true example of a lady whose husband died and left her all alone in the world. Her kids were grown up and were involved in their own life. She had made few outside friends as she had been totally involved in her husbands work. For three years she virtually did nothing socially but suddenly she "flicked" into a different mind-state. She joined a dance club and an up-market singles organization. Now, 12 months later, she is an excellent dancer and is also secretary of the singles club. But most importantly, she is enjoying the life that used to pass her by.

The simplest way to "break out" is to join a club - any club - but obviously one that appeals to you. Clubs are basically groups of like-minded people who do things that they would not do if left to their own devices. Make sense?? Virtually all clubs have a couple of dynamic members who DO things. Quite often these are the same people who initially formed the club. These people "push" others along with their enthusiasm. The net result is that you do things you wouldn't normally do. If you don't want to join a group like this but you want to extend yourself personally, then the simplest way is to set a few personal goals which push you outside your aura of comfort.

Let me give you a personal example of what I mean: Many years ago I did a trading/exchange deal which left me with a number of small lower priced items, one of which was a fairly old jet ski. Now I was NOT a good swimmer and felt very nervous if I got out of my depth in water, so the idea of falling off the ski in 2Oft of water was somewhat daunting. However I donned the life-jacket and started the engine. I was decidedly nervous, not about the ski, but about the water.
After a couple of weeks it suddenly dawned on me that I was not only staying upright on the machine (it was one of those stand-up models) without any fear but I had occasionally forgotten to put my life jacket on! In view of the fact I was being "dumped" in the water regularly I was rather amazed that my fear had been so easily overcome!

What I'm saying is that if you want to improve your satisfaction in life, tackle those things you wouldn't normally do! You don't have to go "overboard" - just tackle things slowly and deliberately. Each achievement, no matter how minor, will give you an inner glow of satisfaction. If you don't continually step outside your security zone, things will become mundane! And the interesting thing is that as you join into an increasing number of outside activities, you will meet more and more like minded people - who will carry you along with their enthusiasm.

Be aware thought, that when you intentionally embark on "pushing" your comfort zone, you will receive quite a lot of implied criticism from well meaning - but boring - friends. You may have to leave them behind as you develop a new range of contacts! It is a fact that your immediate circle of friends are probably all inside your current comfort zone.

New, as yet undiscovered friends…. are not! So, push yourself to look for them. Once you start on this course of action, it's a lot easier than it looks! See you at the next national skydiving champs!