“Feel the fear and do it anyway.”
-Anonymous
Have you ever been afraid or close-minded to doing something you’ve never done before? Trying something new beyond your level of comfort can be scary, but you never know the richness it can add to your life if you never try. When was the last time you tried something new and different? How did you feel after you experienced the new thing? Life is truly lived and experienced outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes you just have to be willing to step outside of what you already know and experience the beauty of something new.
On last week I celebrated my thirty second birthday and it was such a blessed birthday week. It was so much fun celebrating with my family in a new state. We traveled to North Carolina. On last year right before my birthday I went on a hike for the first time and it was phenomenal. One of my strengths is being openminded and willing to try new things. I avoided hiking for seven years before that time. My husband would always encourage me to try but I was always too scared to try. On last year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and tried it anyway despite the fear I felt. I ended up enjoying it so much.
This year for my birthday my family and I went on our first family hike together and took all of our kids. It was such a cool experience and the kids were so happy. Having a special needs family is not as easy to do a lot of physical activities but we were able to use my oldest daughters stroller and roll her up the mountain. Some parts of the inclines were hard but it was all so worth it. I discovered that my weekly workouts and this fitness journey I am currently on has really paid off. I push so hard in workouts because I want my family to be able to experience things like this.
I am so glad that I didn’t allow my fear or comfort zone to stop me from trying something new. This experience showed me that, “Life happens outside of your comfort zone.” My willingness to step out and try something new made life a little more richer for me and allowed my family to experience something new. Our hiking adventure together was so much fun. We did hiked up the Smoky mountains and saw the beautiful water falls. Seeing the beauty of nature all around just made me realize that there is so much beauty all around, sometimes you just have to step outside of your comfort zone to see it. Seeing all the trees, mountains and the lake just had me in awe of God and all that He has created. The views really inspired me to reflect on life. We made many stops during our time of hiking at the most beautiful spots just to take a moment to breathe and soak it all in. It’s really hard to describe the feeling I felt because it was such a beautiful experience. The excitement was different. We experienced some of the most amazing views and really had time to talk together all alone without distraction which was so amazing. Hiking was really fun and also challenged me physically. It helped me to see that my fitness journey was really paying off because by the end of it I still felt so good.
This experience has taught me that stepping out of your comfort zone is not an easy thing to do but it could end up being so beautiful. It’s easy to get comfortable with doing things the same way but change is an essential part of life. Growth happens outside of our comfort zone when you let go of the things that are familiar and comfortable. My vacation choice has always been the beach. It’s my go to destination all the time and it’s such an amazing place to visit. Changing things up really gave me to chance to experience a different type of adventure and it has given me the desire to continue to try new things.
These are some things I have learned about stepping outside of your comfort zone:
1.) It adds a freshness to your life
Stepping outside of your comfort zone really adds a freshness to your life. It makes life more exciting and gives you more things to talk about as you experience new adventures. The excitement that I experienced by trying something new is indescribable. The experience has made me so exited about life.
2.) It changes your perspective
When you experience something new it changes the way you think. Being out in nature really challenged me to enjoy more of life and the beauty that’s around me.
3.) It give you the courage to try new things
I feel like I want to try more things because I had such a great experience with trying something that was outside my comfort zone. Sometimes trying new things can be scary but there are great things on the other side of that fear.
I just want to encourage you to move beyond what’s familiar. There are so many great things that you can experience if you step out and try something new. Think about a time when you tried something new and you really like it. Didn’t it encourage you and make you excited about life and the experience you had. You never know the beautiful things you can experience if you never step out and try. Life is too short to allow fear to keep you stuck in your comfort zone. My challenge to you is to venture out and try something new and watch the freshness it adds to your life. I hope this encourages you to step out. Thank you so much for reading!
What’s something new that you want to try soon? Comment below I would love to hear your story.
Intentional Hope 