Tag: Comfort Zone

Stepping Out of the Box that is My Comfort Zone

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In the message yesterday (via live stream service) there was one thing that my Pastor touched on that really hit home in a significant way. He was speaking of the opposition that we face in many different respects but the main one I want to focus on in this post was the opposition that we sometimes pose to ourselves. In the pursuit of our dreams we come across many obstacles, some seem manageable and others appear insurmountable, but our biggest hurdles can often times be our own internal dialogue. The conversations we have with ourselves can either be the most damaging or the most purposeful but you have to frist be aware of what you are telling yourself.

I know that for me I tend to second guess almost everything and I’m a bit of a perfectionists as well so I’m that person that wants to wait until everything lines up perfectly. The thing that I’ve come to realize in the crazy times that we’re living in right now is that waiting around until everything is perfectly in its place has just resulted in me having a lot of ideas in the works but no concrete products to show for it. I keep waiting for the ideas that I have to be perfect, or near perfect, because I have convinced myself that in order for anyone to want what I’m putting out there it has to be perfection. However, that’s not realistic and it is yet another form of being my own worst enemy.

There’s a phrase that I’ve heard used a lot and that I’ve been adapting recently and that is that I have to start getting out of my own way. That means that I can’t sit back until things are perfect anymore and I can’t wait for the feeling of uncomfortable-ness to go away (because with my anxiety it probably won’t) in order to pursue a goal that I really want to go after. Having said all of that, I am launching a YouTube channel sometime in the next two weeks (I will announce here again when it is up and ready) but I have wanted to do this for at least the last year and a half. Why didn’t I do it sooner, you ask? There were so many reasons, I wasn’t comfortable with being on camera, I didn’t have all of the right equipment, I didn’t feel comfortable on camera, I didn’t think anyone would care about anything I have to say, and did I mention that I don’t feel comfortable on camera.

It’s something that I’ve been feeling drawn to do so I am stepping outside of my box and I’m doing it. I’m also releasing my book for writers in three parts via eBook format, the first part to be released towards the end of May (oh that’s this month), as well as two poetry book collections in May. In addition to those three things that I have coming out this month, I am re-releasing my first novel, The Diary: Succession of Lies, in June (date forthcoming soon). I have a few other things in the works but I will share details about those when I get more concrete dates. I have been amazingly productive lately and it’s mostly because during this time of isolation I have begun to step outside of that box that I’ve kept myself in for far too many years and I’m nervous but excited for what I am putting together. I will come back to post an update of the releases of things a little later in the week and I hope that you will support me as I step out on that ledge of uncertainty. Until next time… #BeUncomfortable #BeProductive #BeFearless

   

Jimmetta Carpenter 

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Embracing the Burdens We Carry

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“Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” ~Numbers 13:30

I read something about obstacles and burdens the other night. It was a parable of sorts in which the young man asked the elderly man what is life’s heaviest burden and the elderly man replied having nothing to carry. I can’t really explain why that struck such a chord with me but it did. I took a few minutes to sit with that statement and really decipher what that meant, in general and more specifically to me. So often we think only of the fact that we have a new problem to face with multiple obstacles to dodge around but I’ve never thought about the reality of the fact that without any problems or obstacles to go through what are we really doing with our lives. I mean if you think about it, when you don’t have any obstacles to face that means that you’re not taking any risks or at least not enough of them. It means that you aren’t being productive to the best of your ability because anything worth pursuing is going to push you outside of your comfort zone, which is essentially going to bring about hurdles to jump over and hoops to propel through.

I had to rethink how I feel about the obstacles and problems that I’ve had to go through in the past and more recently. We always seem to discover how strong we are and how hungry we are for our goals when we are tested and pushed to the brink. I was seeing them as more as something to question as opposed to seeing them as something to embrace. I kept wondering why it was that I keep working so hard to achieve my goals and yet everything still keeps getting in my way. However, after reading that phrase from the young man to the elderly one, I suppose I need to be thankful for those obstacles. Not only do they prove that I am in fact trying and taking risks (arguably not as big of a risk as I would like to be but that’s neither here nor there), but they also push me to keep moving forward and it shows me (in case I sometimes forget) just how much my dreams mean to me.

The thing about obstacles is that they are unavoidable. You can’t really plan to not have obstacles, the best you can really do is strategize the best plan you can to push through those obstacles because they’re inevitable. The problems that we face and the predicaments that we find ourselves having to endure are inevitable but as long as we rely on God and make a plan on how to navigate around the hurdles we face then we won’t ever really fail. Failure means that you never tried and those obstacles that you find yourself weathering through are proof that you did in fact take risks. Remember the saying about Go bringing us through the storms of our lives. Try to also remember that he never said that there wouldn’t be any storms. Embrace the burdens you’ve been given to carry because having nothing to carry at all could be heavier than you realize. Until next time…#BeUncomfortable #BePatient #BeinFaith

 

Jimmetta Carpenter 

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Even If It’s Not Broken, It May Still Need to Be Fixed

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What has God been able to teach you lately? That question was one that my pastor posed to us yesterday and it was a very thought provoking one. To put it in context, he was talking to us basically about getting out of the comfort zone of the things that we know and start walking in the path of the things that we don’t know. I love how the things that I had already been processing in my own mind for myself, when I hear them from another wiser and more experienced person it just makes that much more sense.

I am one of those old fashioned people who can’t really stand the drastic changes in technology and the way that we communicate today. I am much more “comfortable” doing things the way that I know how to do them and the old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is my personal favorite mantra. My pastor preached to us yesterday about learning how to evolve with things and being willing to gain new knowledge so that it could help us take the skills that God has blessed us with, that we have always had, and nurture them and grow them into something even better and bigger with the power to do more good within this world.

When I heard those words I thought about all of the limitations that I have been placing on myself and my dreams just from the shear inability to allow my mind to expand and let myself learn new methods of doing things that just might actually allow for growth and exposure to something better. It’s so odd for me because I consider myself such a student of life and a person who just loves learning overall but when it comes to doing things in a way that’s unsure I just stop there.

I suppose my writing career could be in a far different (and better) place right now if I had been more adaptable to change a long time ago. New can be scary for me, especially if I had gotten so used to doing things in a way that seemed to be working so well but the thing is sometimes you do things the same for so long that you can’t even see when they stop working. You’re too blinded by the familiar and you keep walking in what you know because it feels right to you.

When you finally realize how much you haven’t grown it can be a jolt to the system and one that can either cause you to crumble or to kick it into high gear and get moving in the right direction. I guess you could say I did some crumbling first. I suppose I just have to keep reminding myself of how good change can be when I start to regress and back away from something new. The fact of the matter is that what God wants me to do with the gifts he’s given me, what he wants me to pour into this world is far more important than my wanting to remain ‘comfortable’. I have work to do and I don’t get to complain about being uncomfortable!

Until next time… #BeUncomfortable #BeInFaith

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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There’s No Lid on the Box that is Your Comfort Zone

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No lid on the box

So let’s talk about our comfort zones! No one understands needing to have a routine more than I do. I am that person that annoyingly has to have a plan, a plan to map out the plan, and have all of the plans organized in a very particular way (I also have OCD issues but that’s a story for another blog post). I don’t say this as if I believe this to necessarily be a great thing, but rather, it is one of my many flaws that I wish I could do away with.

Obviously it’s good to have some organization when you are prioritizing your goals. However, sometimes I feel hindered by my obsessive need to over-plan and excessively organize things. It’s all done in an effort to stay within my comfort zone and admittedly it has held me back from doing a lot of things and it has in many ways perpetuated the fear that I’ve always carried along with me for most of my adult life.

My fear has stopped me so many times from taking chances and seizing opportunities but that need to remain in my comfort zone and sticking with my routine has only enhanced those fears. I suppose you could say that I had found a sense of security within my comfort zone and that being safe was far more enticing than living in the unknown realities of what it means to take risks.

I don’t advocate to anyone that they stay inside the box that they’ve created for themselves. I have been trying to get out of my own box for many years now but there’s always that invisible lid that I imagine will hit me on the head and knock me back down. I have been diligently working to change that about myself and I’m going to be open and welcoming to all opportunities that may come my way. If you haven’t already, start knocking down those walls of comfort that have been surrounding you. The only lid that is on the box that you have confined yourself to is the lid that you imagined is real.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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The Comfort Zone is Not the Place to Be

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The comfort zone is not the place to be

In my last post I wrote about realizing once and for all that I have to let go of this fear that is paralyzing me. It got me thinking about how hard it is going to be to just shut down all of my fears. I know it’s not something that can happen overnight. I’ve had this fear lying inside me for so long whether it was fear of not succeeding or fear of actually being successful. I’ve been stuck in this comfort zone, which is odd that they call it that because it’s not actually comfortable to be stuck.

It’s not that I like how things are right now, or the lack of progress that I am seeing in my business. But there is a sense of comfort in already knowing how things are going to go. But I don’t want to live in the land of comfort anymore. I want to push the envelope and challenge myself. I don’t want things to be hard but I don’t want things to be completely easy either because I want to set higher bars for myself and rejoice when I meet them.

Comfort-ability is great for a moment but it will never sustain you on your journey to your dreams. There needs to be a shift in my life and I have to commit to this shift, this change and stay on track. I keep getting off the path because I see repeated stops to the land of comfort and on the surface it’s appealing.

In the comfort zone there are no high expectations to be met anymore. You’ve reached your current maximum potential and while it is a celebrated thing to do so, it also stirs a bit of inner conflict. You’ve reached the initial bar you set for your goals so do you maintain those particular goals and unintentionally become stagnant or do you see that bar, raise it higher once you’ve reached it, and push through until you reach the next level of your journey. I think that I inadvertently chose to stay stagnant but it most certainly was never my intention to.

I know that to reach my very big dreams that there are a lot of little goals that have to get accomplished along the way. I also realize that I can’t let fear of change whether it’s good or bad, stop me from moving forward and making progress. Change requires some manner of discomfort because you are going into the unknown. However, a change in direction could be more rewarding than staying on the road you’re most comfortable on. Being comfortable doesn’t get you anywhere close to you destination. It can only really hold you in place as your dream moves further away.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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