Discomfort as a Habit - Week 1
discomfort
noun
an absence of comfort or ease; uneasiness, hardship, or mild pain.
anything that is disturbing to or interferes with comfort.
verb (used with object)
to disturb the comfort or happiness of; make uncomfortable or uneasy.
My interest in taking on making discomfort as a habit started with The (dis)Comfort Zone Workshop by Jason Seib. At the end of the course, there is what he calls "The Weakless Challenge." While the name didn't align with my thoughts about what I was trying to do, the idea did, a plan for building mental and physical fortitude. Four missions, each lasting one week, with the strong recommendation that you read only one mission at a time as not to get in your head that you "could never do that!" Like other challenges often instruct, you are to start over if you get off track more than 3 days, so... I haven't even managed to get through the first week. Lol. Apparently "not complaining" is really tough one for me right now especially in a couple areas of my life, but the challenge did lead to my Flight project: Taking on discomfort as a habit - doing at least 20 things out of my comfort zone.
What each person considers out of their comfort zone is unique and even changes over time. There is no right or wrong answer, only the person can determine if it is stretching them and encouraging them to grow.
This week I completed several items and also took steps towards others as not all can be completed in one fell swoop.
I wrote and posted my first blog post. You saw it here and you're seeing it again with this one. I have thought many times about starting a blog and I finally did it. Putting my words out where people can read them has been a tough one for me. I will re-read, re-write, in an attempt to get it "perfect," but there was something fun in just letting go and posting it after awhile.
We'll see how long I stick with it. If it resembles how well I stick with journaling, it will be short adventure. Lol.
I read a novel. I generally suck at relaxing and doing things for me and my own enjoyment. And reading is usually done with the purpose of learning something, so reading a novel is, or was, out of my comfort zone. "Somebody Else's Bucket List" by Amy T. Matthews was the perfect novel for me, mirroring the space I'm putting myself in during this project.
"After the untimely death of her outgoing, hugely successful influencer sister, an introverted woman takes on the terrifying challenge of completing her sister’s bucket list as the world watches, in a bid to save her family—and others—from the crippling medical debt her cancer battle left behind."
I had a tough conversation. Sometimes starting a conversation is the hardest part and that proved true with this one. I had been dreading having the conversation and yet, it ended up being a turning point, in a good way, for improved communication and my relationship with the person. I'm clear that there are more conversations to have, but now that the first one is behind us, it seems much easier.
I took a vocal lesson. I have toyed with taking vocal lessons in the past and my husband has mentioned multiple times that he would like me to sing while he plays the guitar, but the idea of singing in front of people, even my husband in that setting, has always been a big "nope" for me. After a recent vacation where I was doing a lot of self-reflection, taking singing lessons came up as something I wanted to do. I felt like that would help me get more comfortable in singing in front of others without the radio backup...after I got over singing in front of the teacher.
While on vacation, I started reaching out to options available in my community and got so confronted by the idea, I actually stopped communicating with the place I was looking at. Instead, the universe offered up the teacher to me at a gathering when I wasn't even thinking about it. We were chatting about her son's wedding and she mentioned as part of the story not having a gig on that day when he asked her about the date. I later asked her to tell me more about what type of gigs she did and she told me that she and her husband are part of a jazz trio, where, you guessed it, she's the vocalist. Anyway, we clicked and after a chat on the phone I knew this was the right person for me, so this week I had my first lesson. Lesson one was all about breathing, but at the end we did some warm ups and I sang in front of her. I got the giggles a few times as she made animated surprised and encouraging facial expressions, but I did it.
I got some other things started. There are some things that take some time to get ready for, so other activities were set in motion. A workshop I'm planning to lead, going to Spanish conversation group and a special date night to name a few.
While I've made an 8 week plan including what I am thinking of doing to get out of my comfort zone and the steps needed, I am not attached to them. I am open to changing them to anything that comes up during this time with the thought "oh, that would be out of my comfort zone" or "I could never do that." And I'm open to the idea that somethings could also spontaneously appear... like my husband grabbing my hand and pulling me close to dance in the grocery store aisle and me, for the first time, willingly participating.
Comments
Post a Comment