Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone: New Years

   Last year I talked about how my goal for the new year was to be positive. The way I did that was by writing down at least one good thing that happened each day, no matter how bad the day was. This year I had a new challenge for myself.
   If you were to just meet me you may think a few things. 1. I am very quiet and calm. 2. I am not very positive because I don't smile much. 3. I don't like to do things that are unfamiliar to me.
   Later on, if you got to know me more, you would realize 1. I can be very loud in the right circumstances and I can be really crazy (soccer, if I'm teaching, if I'm with my family, etc.). 2. I am positive, even though I don't smile much, and I love to encourage others. 3. I don't like to do things that are unfamiliar to me.
   If you are very observant you would have realized that the 3rd thing in each of those lists are the exact same thing. I, like many other people, do not like to get out of my comfort zone. Therefore, my challenge to myself this year was to get out of my comfort zone.
   Last New Years Eve I went to a friend's party. At that party they had dancing. I do not dance in public (unless it is the game Just Dance). I sat at a table looking at the people who were dancing. They seemed to be having fun. But, then my eyes wandered to the children who were dancing  (I'm a teacher, can you blame me)? The children were dancing and having fun. They didn't care who was watching they just wanted to dance and have fun.

   I continued to sit there watching. Then my friend came up and gave me my mentor's child to watch, since she had already tried to get me to dance. This little girl was around 3 years old. She was old enough to dance but she didn't want to because she was shy. I talked with her and then we decided that since we were both a little shy, if we went out to dance together it might be more fun. We went out on the dance floor and I taught her some dance moves. Before I knew it other children came over so I could teach them too. That would never have happened if I didn't get out of my comfort zone.

   Thus why last year became a time of me trying to get out of my comfort zone. Sometimes I didn't have much of a choice when it came to getting out of my comfort zone. This year there was a lot of change in my life. I graduated from college in 2016 and finished student teaching in late February of 2017. After that I had to get out in the work force and be an adult. I became a substitute teacher. That was a major comfort zone breakage: you are in a school you don't know, in a room you don't know, with children you don't know, and there are many more unknowns. On top of that I became a Head JV coach for the first time. That stretched me a lot because at the same time I had my first teaching job in a kindergarten classroom.
   Not only was there change around me this year, but also in me. I am constantly trying to grow and follow my own advice. Any challenge I give to you on my blog I try to follow myself.
   What did I learn in all of this? I learned that when I stepped out of my comfort zone I made a larger impact on others. The impact was different each time but important. If I stayed in my comfort zone in these situations, I would not have been able to encourage others and help them in their journeys.
   I also learned that not only are others impacted when you step outside your comfort zone, but you are as well. I have learned so many new things this year because I chose to step outside my bubble. I have grown so much as well. That is what we are called to do: grow. Grow in intelligence, in our emotions, and in God. That is how we will make an impact on this world.
   So, are you inside your own little bubble of a comfort zone? Have you tried to get out of your Comfort zone to make an impact on others? Will you step out to grow in God?

   Joshua 1:9, Matthew 5:12-13, Matthew 28:16-20