Comfort zones are interesting things. I don't know about anyone else, but I tend to love them. They symbolize security. They provide this little cocoon of safety and familiarity. When I'm in them I have this protected feeling like nothing can really truly hurt me as long as I stay in their familiar embrace. Of course the thing I've come to realize is that comfort zones while they definitely have their good points and the times they are necessary, to truly grow you have to step outside of them at some point. I mean what happens if a catapiller decides hanging out in that cocoon is way better than ever coming out of it. When it comes out it becomes vulnerable to any number of dangers. Outside of the cocoon there are birds, spider webs and little kids with science projects to complete! Inside the comfort zone those threats while still there seem less likely. It's like in our comfort zone we can close our eyes like a toddler and insist that none of those dangers can see us. Of course as long as the catapiller stays in it's cocoon it never has the opportunity to see what it's full potential is, what a beautiful butterfly it can become. If the eagle's offspring insists on hanging out in the nest it will never discover how high it is truly capable of soaring. So what do we miss when we insist that our comfort zone is far enough?
Don't get me wrong. As I mentioned before comfort zones can be great things, they can help build some confidence in areas, they can be necessary for emotional and even spiritual healing, but eventually if we are ever to achieve the vision God has of what he wants us to become we will have to step out of the comfort zone. It doesn't require much faith to stay there since we pretty much think we know how life will go if we do so, the faith comes when you follow the call that leads you out of that familiarity, the call that encourages you to get out of the boat in the middle of a storm and walk on the water. To me Peter is an awesome example of what you can experience if you are willing to consider stepping out of your comfort zone. I think we often tend to think of the "where did your faith go" aspect of Peter's walk on the water while the other side to it is Peter walked on the water! Outside of Jesus who else in the history of mankind has managed that? Does that mean the dangers and pitfalls cease to exist? No, but realistically they are there even when we stay in our comfort zones so why not find what the true potential God has for us really is?
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Cleaniness Might Be Next to Godliness, but Organization Would Seem to be the Path There....
I have come to a realization about myself recently thanks to a friend's personal observation. After a Facebook post stating my latest project of organizing and clearing out with her response that she does the same thing when she needs to think, I discovered so do I!! Thanks to her personal observation I have recognized a pattern to my cleaning schedule! When I'm fairly content with where things are not really challenged to think or maybe I'm just plain feeling sorry for myself, my apartment shows it!! I suppose I should be thankful God sends life changing events to turn my life upside down every so often so the place gets a good cleaning!
This year for some reason I decided to evalute the "stuff" I was holding onto early in the year, but certainly didn't expect the mass clearing I've managed so far! Honestly even at this point I can't figure out how or why I decided to "clear out" some of the things I've parted with, but I know that it was time to let go of it. For anyone who knows me they will understand that books are my obsession! Growing up books were my escape from reality. They were a way for me to travel to exotic locations and different eras of history and live a life in my mind I only dreamed about. One of my favorite stories to illustrate the importance of that particular possession is the fact that by the time I was 13 I had amassed a collection in the thousands that I did not want to part with upon which my Dad insisted some had to go. Talk about traumatic!! If I remember right I was livid and took quite a while to get over it. That said my Dad would be very proud of me today since while I will always value my books, I have found they aren't necessary to my living and breathing.
Of course it's not necessarily that the possessions are wrong, but I had to evaluate why I was holding onto them which resulted in the realization that in the big picture they aren't necessary to my happiness. They take up space in my life that while I didn't recognize it right away has been replaced by other more important things such as relationships, the nieces and nephews I've "adopted", the friends who have become family. Of course once you find you can part with the possessions you value the most everything else is a discovery in how free you can really become as you stop letting those things rule your life and let God fill it with other things a little more each day. Now does that mean that there will never be days that the apartment looks less than it's best. Of course not! I fully expect that I will be able to organize and re-organize and re-re-organize many times over the coming years, but the way I look at it now is that if all of that organizing means God's making me think, well I'll just keep at it!
This year for some reason I decided to evalute the "stuff" I was holding onto early in the year, but certainly didn't expect the mass clearing I've managed so far! Honestly even at this point I can't figure out how or why I decided to "clear out" some of the things I've parted with, but I know that it was time to let go of it. For anyone who knows me they will understand that books are my obsession! Growing up books were my escape from reality. They were a way for me to travel to exotic locations and different eras of history and live a life in my mind I only dreamed about. One of my favorite stories to illustrate the importance of that particular possession is the fact that by the time I was 13 I had amassed a collection in the thousands that I did not want to part with upon which my Dad insisted some had to go. Talk about traumatic!! If I remember right I was livid and took quite a while to get over it. That said my Dad would be very proud of me today since while I will always value my books, I have found they aren't necessary to my living and breathing.
Of course it's not necessarily that the possessions are wrong, but I had to evaluate why I was holding onto them which resulted in the realization that in the big picture they aren't necessary to my happiness. They take up space in my life that while I didn't recognize it right away has been replaced by other more important things such as relationships, the nieces and nephews I've "adopted", the friends who have become family. Of course once you find you can part with the possessions you value the most everything else is a discovery in how free you can really become as you stop letting those things rule your life and let God fill it with other things a little more each day. Now does that mean that there will never be days that the apartment looks less than it's best. Of course not! I fully expect that I will be able to organize and re-organize and re-re-organize many times over the coming years, but the way I look at it now is that if all of that organizing means God's making me think, well I'll just keep at it!
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