I'm Not Always Brave Enough...

The world is filled with good advice about how we can "live our lives to the fullest" and achieve some measure of success... whatever that might mean to us.

Whereas I have done much reading on the topic — and have spent both time and money on workshops and retreats, in search of "wisdom" — one of the conclusions I repeatedly come to is that there are a lot of things in life I am simply not brave enough to undertake.

Is that cowardly?

I suppose that depends on your perspective, but perhaps it is more a matter of truly knowing myself. That, and having a somewhat low tolerance for failing at things repeatedly, and still attempting them.

I tend to be more oriented towards "learning my lessons" and then moving on, once it has sunk in that I'm not really likely to "make it" at something. One of those lessons — which I perhaps owe to my Scandinavian heritage — is that I am far more concerned with happiness and life contentment than I am with "success" and this notion of "having it all."

Honestly?

When it comes to facing life's tasks and challenges, I'd rather look for a place where the metaphorical fence/wall is lower, and attempt to cross there. Unlike many, I am not of the mindset that "I must climb the mountain, BECAUSE IT ITS THERE."

I'm pretty content with looking at the mountain from a comfy deck chair in my back yard, and occasionally taking a hike in the foothills.

I certainly admire the mountaineers of life in some fashion, although I often wonder whether they are happy in their endless pursuits. Of course, it's entirely possible that happiness isn't a metric they even care about, when it comes to evaluating their lives.

Much is written and said about the importance of pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone.

Well-meaning as that advice might be — and I'm inclined to think it might hold true for a lot of people — it's not necessarily the best path forward for everyone.

Almost to a fault, any time I have stretched outside my comfort zones, the outcomes have been disastrous. Most of the great calamities of my six decades on this planet have been directly connected to pushing my personal envelope.

Conversely, some of my most successful moments have come while I was in a state of being very relaxed and comfortable.

Some of us are just not very good at "growing" when all we're preoccupied with is the sheer terror that we're falling off a tall cliff with no parachute! Metaphorically speaking...

Of course, there are lessons to be learned everywhere!

In talking to a lot of people in the course of (among other things) being a small business consultant and mentor, one thing I have noted is the correlation between the nature of our fight/flight instinct, and stretching our comfort zones.

If you're someone who's by nature more likely to flee than fight when challenged and under stress, you're likely not going to benefit a lot from stretching your comfort zone. It's not working with your strengths.

That's just me own personal observations, and I'm sure there are exceptions. But it's still something worth keeping in mind!

Anyway, to wrap this up, sometimes when we feel like we are "not brave enough" to undertake something, it behooves us to listen, because maybe our subconscious isn't acting from fear, so much as from calculated self-preservation.

That last little bit is something I wish I'd recognized, when I was in my 20's and 30's.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!

How about you? Do you like taking risks; stretching your comfort zone? Or do you prefer staying within familiar realms? When have your greatest leaps of personal growth occurred? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2024.09.04 22:42PDT
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