”Do one thing every day
— Eleanor Roosevelt
that scares you.”
“The best things in life
— Karen Salmansohn
are often waiting for you
at the exit ramp
of your comfort zone.”
“Life begins at the end
— Neale Donald Walsh
of your comfort zone.”
This week’s MotW reminds us to continuously expand from our comfort zone into our growth zone. We’ll never know how far we can go until we push the envelop of what we can do. Too often we let our beliefs in our illusionary limitations stop us. Oliver Page, MD (of Positive Psychology)states “What holds [us] back most of the time is [our] frame of mind rather than any distinct lack of knowledge.”
For example, this mandala. My comfort zone with color choices usually encompasses bright colors across the rainbow spectrum. This week I felt my Creative Spirit nudge me to try more earthy, brownish colors. Like a little kid I heard myself begrudgingly say “well…alllllrrriiiigghhtt” (like a reluctant toddler would say when prompted to try broccoli). The mandala turned out okay; it has a solid, grounded feel to it. I will definitely be more open to using a broader range of colors from now on.
So what is a comfort zone? Judith Bardwick (“Danger in the Comfort Zone”) defines it this way.
“The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.”
We are encouraged to be willing to grow, drum up our courage, and allow ourselves to take more risks. If we happen to mess up at it, we’ve learned from it. If we succeed, the rewards are many.
“If you play it safe in life,
— Shirley Hufstedler
you’ve decided
that you don’t want
to grow anymore.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
btw…phase 1, laying down dry color
Mandala of the Week 