Anyone who identifies as a creature of habit or routine arguably experiences rather aggressive anxiety toward the notion of changing things up, myself included. For those of us who find comfort in repetition and predictability, the idea of change can be a daunting one. But, despite the fear associated with change, change is not something that should be avoided, because it’s a relatively inevitable component in this crazy thing known as life.
I was recently faced with a situation that, upon first finding out its logistics, I planned to avoid. The situation involved me being outside of my comfort zone, and I actually said no at first. But, upon further contemplation, I realized my choice to decline really wasn’t benefiting me or the other party involved, and I figured I needed to buck up and try something different in order to possibly experience something new and great. And, as it turns out, deciding to go despite my internal routine creature shrieking at me about it was the right choice, because it did end up being a fun time.
As comforting as familiarity and routine can be, neither offers the opportunity to grow. Growth occurs through things like change, and even failure, so if we refuse to step outside of our comfort zones and rely on the same behaviours day in and day out, how can we expect to grow as individuals or seek out new and wonderful interests?
Change can be intimidating, but that doesn’t mean it should be avoided. We must push ourselves to try new and ‘scary’ things, because if we don’t, we will end up in a vicious cycle of redundancy and arguably not a whole lot of joy. Change isn’t my preference, but sometimes it is absolutely needed in the grand scheme of things, whether we like it or not.
Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash
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