The Comfort Zone: Part 1

Even though I am not a parent of school-aged children, I am surrounded by the back-to-school sales, tax-free weekends, listening to kids and teachers complaining about the dreaded first day of school. I am reminded of comfort zones. As a child, one of our first life experiences of leaving our comfort zones is going to school, then ending a school year, and repeating the process for 12 more years after kindergarten.

When we go to school for the first time, whether it be daycare, preschool, or just traditional school, we leave the comforts of home. We get into new routines for about 2-7 hours a day, 3-5 days a week. In my day, I started preschool when I was four years old and I think I went for at least 2-3 hours a day, 3-4 days a week. I had to get used to being around other kids, besides my younger brother and listen to an adult who was not a relative. You would think that spending 13 years of going to school (elementary, junior high, and high school) would make leaving your comfort zone a piece of cake. Nope, not always for me.

Spending 9 months (back in my day the school year was a bit shorter) in a school setting became another comfort zone for me. From late August to late May, I got used to sitting in the same desk day after day, week after week, being around the same kids and seeing the same teacher. Yet, I always looked forward to nearly three months of summer vacation. Of course, my brother and I often fought in typical sibling fashion and Mom sometimes got tired of hearing us argue. We either had to go to our rooms for quiet time (usually Mom’s nap time) or play outside. While it is easy to remain in a comfort zone, it can also get boring. Unfortunately, change is a very, very scary thing for me as well as others. As the summer vacation would get closer to the end, I would get sick to my stomach because I was so nervous about starting school with a new teacher and may not get some of my friends in my new class. Would this new teacher be nice? Would I get to see my friends more than just at recess or lunch? What if I had to sit next to someone I did not like, especially a boy with cooties? So many questions went through my young mind. I did not want to leave my mom and I was getting used to my brother being a pain in the butt.

For 13 years, I got used to the routine of school, then summer, then school again. I learned to enjoy new experiences and realized that I did not have to know everything before it happened. As adults, we have so many choices in life, yet we may remain stuck in areas where we are not happy. While staying stuck somewhere unpleasant can be miserable, it may feel comfortable as we have the choice to remain in the same place at the same time every day, month after month, year after year. Sometimes our comfort zones may be unhealthy for us or we feel so comfortable that we are not growing. If only we could be like children and get a new job every year for at least 9-10 months, then have a summer vacation. Unfortunately that is not how adult life works. More about that in my next post. Stayed tuned.