(Mt. 17:1 ff) Jesus
took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain. There he was
transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun. And obviously Peter
felt the security of being with Jesus. Then Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with him. And Peter felt he too was ‘one of boys.‘ He felt
familiarity with them. Then Peter said, "Lord,
it is good that we are here. If you wish, let’s pitch our tents here.” –
meaning let’s stay here for good. Peter felt security. But Jesus answered ‘no’ because Peter had
fallen into his comfort zone and sooner or later he had to step out of it. What then is this comfort zone?
A comfort zone is
a state/condition you find yourself in which things feel familiar to you; and being familiar, you are at ease because
you have control of your environment; and because you have control of your
environment, you experience low levels of anxiety and stress. Being inside the comfort zone implies familiarity, safety, and
security. (It’s like the blanket of
Linus!)It keeps you relatively comfortable and calm, and helps you stay free
from anxiety and worry to some degree. But remaining inside the comfort zone, you
miss out on new experiences, new challenges, new risks. If you do not step out
of your comfort zone, then growth will never be possible for you.
But experiencing a little stress and anxiety now and then is
a good thing, too. If all you ever do is strive to stay wrapped up in your
little cocoon, keeping warm and cozy, you may be missing out on quite a
lot---maybe no new experiences, no challenges, and no risks. And looking at the
bigger picture of life, if you can’t step out of your comfort zone you may
experience difficulty making change or transitioning, growing, transforming; in
other words, all those things that define who you are and give your life
personal meaning.
The March 3, l992
issue of Houston Chronicle told about an English lady, Joan Abery who died at
70. When she was 35 her fiancé abandoned her at the altar. From that moment on she spent the rest of her
life in her garden! She built herself a
shelter from trees, twigs and brightly colored umbrellas in the front garden of
her home and furnished it with car seats and briefcases. She had left her house
in southern England unchanged since the day the wedding should have taken
place. She lived and died in a comfort zone designed to protect her from her
emotional pain. She had gotten stuck on a mistake and was not able to move
beyond it.
Very simply, what we fear most about challenging ourselves
is that we may fail and/or get hurt in the process. But truth be known, most of
us have the ability to rise to the occasion, overcome hurdles and obstacles,
and actually succeed in accomplishing something new and challenging.
Back in 2006 Detlef
Federsohn, 23, was released from prison in Vienna, Austria after serving two
years for theft. Around an hour later, the police were called because they thought
there was a suspected prison break after they saw someone on the roof of the
jail. But no one was trying to break out of prison, instead it was just
Federsohn who was trying to get back
in! So they asked him why he would want
to get back in prison. He said, “Life is so much easier on the inside. They
feed you, do your washing and let you watch TV, which is a lot more than my mom
does for me at home.”
Life begins only at
the end of your comfort zone.
Your real life is out there waiting for you. Your real life is the sum total of ALL
of your experiences, not just the ones you are comfortable with.
Out of your comfort zone you push yourself to dip into your
store of untapped knowledge and resources. You have no idea what you are made
of unless and until you venture outside of your own familiar world.
Taking risks are growth experiences. Even if you make
mistakes or don’t get it right the first time there’s always these experiences
you’ve had to tap into for the future. There really is no such thing as ‘fail’
if you got something out of the experience. Your challenges and experiences are
cumulative. And remember, “FAIL”
re-framed means “first attempt in learning”.
Leaving your comfort zone helps you to deal with the
inevitable unavoidable changes in life. Life transitions are all about change.
Each time you transition you move to another level. And these life transitions
transform you.
Life begins at the
end of your comfort zone.
Continuing our gospel story: After Jesus asked Peter and the
others to step out of their comfort zone… this means they would now have to
leave behind these glorious things they have seen and heard. Then they now have
to get down the mountain and face life as it truly is without its glitter and
full of its pain and failure. Life for
Jesus means going down the mountain and heading straight to Jerusalem where he
will suffer and face certain death. And he wants his disciples to follow him.
A little later Jesus told his disciples: “The Son of Man is about to be delivered
into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the
third day.” And the passage continues with: And they were greatly distressed. (Mt. 17:22) It was difficult for
the disciples to leave their comfort zone to the point where Peter previously
had responded to this by saying: "Never, Lord!" he said. "This
shall never happen to you!" And Jesus scolded Peter, "Get behind me,
Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind
on God's interests, but on man's." It is only by stepping out of our
comfort zone will we be able to see God’s interests and his bigger plan for us.
So did Peter step out of his comfort zone…
Interestingly, in the gospel according to Matthew, Peter is mentioned
in 24 verses. In 11 of them he is doing or saying the wrong thing. In Mark it
is in 11 out of 20 verses, in Luke 7 out of 18 and in John it is 10 out of l9
verses. Here’s a guy who seems to have about a 50% chance of doing the
wrong thing. And we know Peter in spite of his faults and failures will go
ahead and become the leader of Christ’s church… all because he left his comfort
zone.
I’d like to end with the story of the first reading where Abraham was
already content with his life and the Lord commands him: "Go forth from the land of your birth,
from your father's house to a land that I will show you.
(and) Abram
went as the LORD directed him.” He stepped out of his comfort zone and the
Lord’s promise was fulfilled. And this promise extends to us if we too will do
our part.
"I will make of you a great nation, and I will
bless you;
I will make your name great, so that you will be a
blessing.
I will bless those who bless you and curse those
who curse you.
All… everyone shall find blessing in you." (Gen. 12:1-4)
References:
Bingaman, E. (2013). Breaking out of your comfort zone. Pleasant
View.
McKinney, M. (2012). Why
didn’t the geese fly? Foundations
Magazine.