I think the most incredible things in life happen when you are moving.
Sometimes it's hard to get going. And this time I'm having a hard time. It's been a month since I finished my Erasmus and I still don't feel totally "at home"; so don't fall into that trap and stay all quiet in Spain. Back to the subject, why did this happen to me? I was in Krakow for a while and got used to my little Polish routine; it sounds silly, but it's not: Looking out the same window every morning, sleeping on the same mattress, taking my bike to the university, walking around the city with a set course, reading and writing in lost bars in the Jewish quarter, sharing everything with the same people day after day, dreaming of travelling again and waiting patiently for the time to come. Going out, drinking, the usual stuff...nananana.
Well, the inspiration came to me after a trip, a stage of the Camino de Santiago that I did last week. And I ask myself... could that even be an example of stepping out of the comfort zone? That's what I will write about in this article and I will try to give my point of view about it and make you see that it is more present than we thought in our lives, many times without realising it.
There are many people who don't dare to leave their comfort zone and prefer to spend their whole life feeling secure, with what they already have and not wanting to change anything. I believe that no matter how happy you are right now, in the end, routine is deadly. Perhaps this has to do with a phrase that the great Sabina says: "To the place where you have been happy, you should not try to return". When something makes you happy, over time your interest in it will diminish, and that is why you have to try to innovate instead of staying stuck in the past.
You have to dare to change things because if people do not evolve, live new experiences or have challenges, we will start to lose our expectations and our ability to be happy. Likewise, as J. Bucay explains, there are two types of people, those who set very high expectations and have a lot of frustration in their lives and those who set expectations that are very close and easy to obtain. Neither of them will ever be happy, but especially the latter are those who are not able to leave their comfort zone, usually for fear of frustration and to avoid the stress of facing change.
If our environment evolves, but we do not, social or relationship problems may appear, which can lead to isolation in extreme cases. Many people feel bored and need a change in their lives, but do not know what to do to achieve it. Surely the exit will have its risks, it will provoke anxieties, insecurities, it will pose challenges... But I ask myself, what is life without a little risk?
Everything you imagine can happen on a journey will happen. You may even think that nothing is happening, and yet more is happening than you ever imagined.
Those who complain and say that they can't get out of their routine because they don't have money usually carry an Iphone under their pocket or go on sale and end up buying new season clothes. Everyone is free to do what they want, it's simply a question of priorities. And sometimes excuses...
But I wanted to see again what I was capable of. And there is no greater satisfaction than when you fulfil one dream and move on to another. And always with the feeling of a job finished, a job well done.
People who like adventure do our best to get out of our comfort zone to feel good, but we immediately want to replace it with another one.
The reality is that the moments of greatest euphoria, excitement, joy and happiness have been experienced precisely at the moment of moving from one place to another.
At the moment of starting an activity. At the moment of trying something new. At the first thought away from routine thoughts. It all starts in the mind and ends when our actions and thoughts become routine.
The day I got on the plane to Chicago. The day I visited a family in Scotland that I hadn't seen for 9 years. The day I was told my Erasmus destination. The day I got on the bus to go to Ukraine from Poland. The day I did my diving baptism. The day I got 3 of us on a motorbike in Marrakech. The day I arrived in France without having slept. My first day in Krakow. The day I had an outburst and I set off to Portugal. The day I drove the most kilometres in my car. The day I got lost in Budapest.
Even so, I believe that life should always be a balance in everything we do. If we are always looking to get out of our comfort zone, we will never enter one of the best states that exist in life, we will necessarily miss one of the best sensations: the state of flowing.
I am telling you all this, apart from the fact that I was feeling inspired and thoughtful today, so that those of you who identify with me can give it a twist and draw your own conclusions.
Thank you for reading me 🙂
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