The Comfort Zone

The Collective We

For a moment allow me to write as the collective "we". While I usually avoid this writing format, it is offering me a sense of comfort (yes, I get the irony).

We LOVE our comfort zones. Their primary functions are to create safety, protection and provide us with certainty. Created by past experiences, we go through life and make decisions for our present life, from the perspective of the comfort zone.

Time goes on and then a Life Shock occurs. **Life shocks are moments that wake us up, encouraging us to grow** Suddenly, what used to work no longer does and we get the opportunity to see the Life Shock from another perspective and wisdom arises: we've outgrown the comfort zone.

The magic (not the truth) of the comfort zone is that we long for the way we used to feel. And because we are creatures of habit, we try to crawl back into the comfort zone. Often, we stay, in the uncomfortable comfort zone (yes, that's an oxymoron), even when it becomes painful.

Because

Who would want to change? 

Who wants to step beyond their comfort zones? 

Who knows they are worthy enough to embrace the process, create a new comfort zone, or better yet, live beyond them?

Here's where the healthy, perspective shifting discussion begins.

Who would choose to stay stuck?

Who would stay in a comfort zone that stopped being comfortable?

Why would we not want to discover MORE of who we are?

My Comfort Zones

Over the course of the last few years, I've faced many of my comfort zones and the work I've done has provided me with tools to live more authentically. In the process, I've discovered this amazing gift of my being; I love to learn, grow and share my experiences. Fortunately the Universe continues to provide me with opportunities to take leaps of faith.

Though I will admit, sometimes I don't see the leaps as opportunities, even though I know it is in my best interest. It isn't always easy to acclimate to the wisdom that stirs inside of me that knows, "it's time to grow." And in my vulnerable honesty, the process to shift my perspective takes time, energy and practice. What I do know about my process, is that with authentic support, nourishment and love, I navigate through the growth periods and come out stronger.

July 2012

My weight, body size and food choices used to be my primary comfort zones. They offered a form of protection, a temporary relief of pain and provided a distraction. The comfort zones were in place because of past experiences I was not yet ready to process through. When I began my body transformation in September of 2012, I faced my comfort zones again, and again, and again. Because food is essential to living, every meal became an opportunity for me to choose nourishment and connection, over frustration and avoidance. Naturally, as the layers of the healing process began, my comfort zones stopped working and started hurting. What I needed was to wholeheartedly believe that by stepping beyond my comfort zones, I'd discover a better way to live.

The Perspective Shift

April 2015
The Perspective Shift

I've become familiar with my growth process and can feel a new layer rise to wake me up. With this awareness, I asked for support and received a new teacher in my life. With full heartfelt gratitude, I honor the connection that began as I began working with Aaron, my life coach.

The Universe presented the teacher that would compliment my strengths, encourage my growth and would help me to live in abundance. I've flourished, discovered and harnessed new ways of living because of the work we engage in. And what I love, respect and sometimes get frustrated with (though, again, that is what I like about the process) is that I am challenged to see my comfort zones for what they are, to tell the truth and step outside of them to grow. Depending on how honest and willing I am to ask for support, the lesson learning and time of growth can be seen in one of two ways:

Is this experience happening TO me?

Or 

Is this experience happening FOR me? 

Regardless of how I choose to see it (albeit the first feels limited, icky, dark and deep, while the second feels bountiful, bright and makes my heartglow) my life coach is there to help me work through each phase, shift the perspective and make choices that align with my authenticity.

If I've learned anything from my body transformation, the growth process is filled with surprises, takes time, energy and most of all requires PATIENCE. So as I continue forward, courage, compassion and honesty surround my intention to live in my authenticity.

Photo Courtesy of:
http://www.lovethispic.com/image/48988/you-make-mistakes

With Love, Jan

28 Months

Last Wednesday I honored my 28 month anniversary of my body transformation. With a 130 pounds transformed, choices made to feel better and a willingness to believe in myself and the power of transformation, I truly celebrated this anniversary.

Though something happened before I got to the celebration. I noticed a part of me trying to make my 28 month anniversary ordinary. I suppose I could have agreed, yet that didn't settle with me and I made the choice to find out why.

Perhaps it was the part of me that thought after I reached my 2 year anniversary, the 21st of each month would feel "just like any other day." Though it really doesn't. Nor is there any reason for me to stop honoring this measure of time. If it were not for the bold move I made then, my life transformation wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't be here now. So what was really going on?

Behind The Curtain 

I felt the spiral inward, as I moved beyond the thoughts that were trying to minimize the significance of this date, the magnitude of my transformation and the gratitude of this journey. There was a piece of the puzzle that was demanding my attention. Throughout my journey there was something I'd believed to be true. A part of me that no matter how far I got, would hook me back in to a place of discontentment. So I'd struggle, find a new rhythm and keep moving forward, though I never understood why this stop and go pattern occurred, what I could do with it or how it could transform.

The Mental Block

Most recently as I was moving my body at the fitness club, I saw this "truth" come forward in a way I hadn't experienced before. My personal trainer developed a routine for my body movement. With this plan in place, I found myself at the fitness club moving and feeling stronger. A few days into the new routine, I noticed a thought that landed beside me, "great job, Jan! I think you're done."

While I was doing a great job (I'm a big fan of pep talks), I'd been keeping count and knew I wasn't done. I wondered what that little thought was trying to do. "Well, Jan, no one will know if you don't finish your routine." Frozen on the green yoga mat, I recognized this as a mental block. I affirmed that I would indeed be completing the routine and responded back, "No one else may know, but I will." The energy of the mental block lifted, the thought dissipated and Jack Johnson's Sitting, Wishing, Waiting played over the speakers, becoming my work out wake-up song.

How long will I keep sitting until I am ready to move? 

How long will I keep wishing I'd take bold steps forward? 

And when will I stop waiting to be ready? 

Little did I know then, this experience was an opportunity for me to grow even more. As I sat with Maggie at my monthly nutrition appointment, we pulled back the curtain on this mental block. I could feel my breath quicken, heart beat faster and my thoughts race, as I tried to cover up what was nestled underneath. Thankfully, this wasn't my first time sitting with uncomfortable emotions and thoughts, so I settled in, took deep breaths and recognized my stop and go pattern, I was afraid and thought I was unworthy.

The Worthiness Factor

Over the course of the last 30 something days, I've been actively engaging in honoring my self worth. It's been an emotional process. A detoxification of the lie that I am unworthy and a reclamation of the truth that I am worthy. With the support of my life coach, I've grown with it, learned from it and continue to do so. Because over the course of the last few years, at the root of the 'stop and go' pattern I was experiencing with movement, both in the fitness club and on my spiritual journey, my worthiness was on the line. And in these two moments in time, I was given the opportunity to see the thoughts for what they were and return to a place of truth, that I am worthy.

With love, Jan