Your Comfort Zone is Your Prison
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” - Marcus Aurelius
In this day and age, it’s shockingly easy to forget that our purpose on earth is not simply to be comfortable. Advancements in technology have ushered in an era defined by apathy, indulgence, and passivity. Today’s average individual has more avenues for personal achievement and learning than ever before, yet is so sedated by easy dopamine that most of those opportunities go wasted. Gone are the days of aspiring for greatness; we’d rather watch safely from the sidelines as others achieve our dreams. We prefer to eat junk food and watch TV than go for a walk outside.
Ironically, none of us wants to be a couch potato. We don’t crave mediocrity; we long for intrigue and novelty. Everyone has imagined themselves taking part in some grand experience like skydiving, climbing Everest, backpacking across Europe, competing in the Olympics… but very few even take the first step to pursue these dreams. Out of our comfort zones, we’ve subconsciously constructed prisons, though we reassure ourselves every day that we’re going to break free tomorrow. But it feels safe to clock in to work every day, because it’s familiar and a paycheck provides the stability and security we want. Or at least, the stability and security we’ve been told we should want. Conveniently, we ignore that we’ve become a slave to the pursuit of normalcy.
Life isn’t just about pursuit of the highs of excitement and adventure, but it certainly isn’t supposed to be a monotonous drag. Yet that’s exactly what it becomes when we allow our comfort zone to become our boundaries. Furthermore, the world will not be impacted by people who are content to wallow in prisons of their own laziness. If there’s a desire in you to change the world for the better - and there is, because that’s what makes you human - that action that can only be taken outside of what is familiar and pleasant.
Consistency and discipline are the antidote to the empty comfort you’ve imprisoned yourself in - only you can choose to free yourself; no one else can release you. Every person on earth who surrenders to the stagnation of a ‘good enough’ life eventually suffers from the depressing realization of the time they wasted which could have been spent pursuing true fulfillment. Elderly people universally agree that wasted time is a tragedy, because once a day is spent, it can never be recovered. Why wait until old age to understand the need to make the most of the time you’re given? Some day you will look back at what you’ve accomplished, and at how many lives you’ve touched. Will you feel satisfied with yourself?
I don’t imagine there could be any pain greater than looking back at a wasted life.