Is a life of comfort killing your dreams?

We’ve gotten too comfortable.  I think it may be safe to say that many Americans today are the most comfortable they’ve ever been.  We have our houses and our recliners and our remote controls and our devices and our circle of friends and our neighborhood stores and we’re comfortable.  Why would we ever leave?  Why would we ever stir the pot and risk discomfort?

Well all that’s fine and dandy until we consider that we’ve traded in curiosity for comfort.  We’ve given up on the idea of dreams and self-growth for it might risk our security.  How would our culture ever have evolved without curiosity?  How will our individual lives ever be anything besides exactly what they are unless we step outside our comfort zone and pursue that which makes us go “hey, I wonder what that would be like?” and we go do it.  We let the idea of failure cripple us.  We let the ability to Google what we’re curious about, take place of actually physically DOING that thing.  And yet what we don’t acknowledge is that we’re missing out on a kind of satisfaction that can never be achieved unless taking the risk, leaving comfort behind and chasing our curiosity.

When we suppress our curiosity, instead creating a life of certainty and routine, we leave no room for opportunity.  Life is a long hallway simply leading to the end.  Maybe it’s a pretty hallway or a cozy hallway but it’s one single defined path nonetheless.  Kill your routine, let go of your grip on that perceived security, take a leap of faith, embrace uncertainty and all of a sudden that hallway has a thousand doors that lead to different views and life experiences.

Life is not a trial run.  We don’t get to live it, see what works and come back and do it all over again.  We get this one shot.  If I only get one shot, I want to shatter the walls of the hallway and see everything I can possibly see.  Have as many experiences as is possible in a lifetime.  Meet tons of people in tons of places and experience all their different views on life.

Life is an experiment.  There is no right or wrong way to live it.  So be tenacious in pursuit of those things that peak your curiosity.  If something lights you up at just the thought of it…go for it.  Embrace all the fear, all the failures and all the successes along the way, but most of all, figure out how you can make your future self proud.  No one on their death bed ever said “I’m glad I spent my life playing it safe.”

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

-Mark Twain

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By Michele

Michele

Hi, I'm Michele, a nomadic wedding photographer and lover of the great outdoors. I live on the road full-time and document my adventures daily. This is my personal blog where I share and record my thoughts on living simply and intentionally with less stress and more joy. Check out my wedding and portrait photography at http://www.oncwest.com

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