Another step outside of your comfort zone，It can only make you better

Humans are known for their love of comfort. We can relax in comfort because there is no fight-or-flight response, no worry, and no uncertainty. We now live mostly in comfort, having eliminated most aspects of survival. We work to earn money to feed our families, then return home and relax in front of the television. We are no longer hunting for food or fighting for survival the way our forefathers did. We take pleasure in the comfort of our surroundings.

However, staying in one's comfort zone usually means little, if any, growth. We no longer need to put ourselves in challenging or uncomfortable situations, so we don't, but as a result, we'll never truly know what we're capable of.

When it comes to exercise, say lifting weights in the gym, you can only grow when it starts to hurt, when you can feel every muscle move within you, when you feel the strain and want to quit. Your body will change a little if you do the same weight lifting every day, but not as much as if you push yourself past the pain and discomfort. Only then will you see muscle growth and endurance increase.

Pain and difficult situations are necessary for us to grow and improve.

“It’s only after you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform” - Roy T. Bennett

On the 6th May 2021, my friend messaged me asking whether I would like to join him and a few others for a swim in the sea the following day. My response was:

I’m gonna say yeah because I hate the idea of it, it’s too cold and it’s made me feel uncomfortable so yes

On the drive to the coast, my mind was focused on how much I didn’t want to do it, the scenarios kept going through my head where I would walk to the water and turn around. I knew I wasn’t going to back out, but I was extremely anxious.

I, personally, really dislike being in the cold, i’m much more of a warm weather, enjoying the sunshine kind of guy — and cold water especially makes me freak out a little. I’ve tried to attempt cold showers before never been able to drop the temperature past still being warm.

So we arrive at the coast. I try not to think about it. I know that if I think about it, I won’t do it. If I clear my mind completely, if I don’t think at all, then I will be able to do what I need to do — much easier said than done, those voices in my head like to shout.

The temperature outside is around 13°c, luckily the sun was shining to give a bit of extra warmth. Around us were people wearing wetsuits — they knew what they were doing — whereas we stood there in our swimming shorts. What were we doing?

As I undress, my friend is already stepping into the water — he’s done this before and has cold showers all the time, he likes to put himself in that situation — then my other friend gets in just before me. As I walk towards the steps all I can do is swear, by swearing, allowing profanities to escape my mouth, I was able to move the focus away from what I was about to do. I was trying to trick my mind to into not thinking about it.

I descended the stairs as quickly as I could, I needed to just be in the water otherwise I would stop myself. And then I was in. It was cold. It was bloody cold.

For the first few moments my breath struggled — I was breathing to fast, my breath getting stuck in my throat. If I carried on this way my body would have panicked. I slowed my breathing with the help of my friends and began to adjust.

The water was 11°c. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in water that cold — perhaps you’ve been in colder — but either way, it’s cold. It’s not a comfortable temperature to be in, our bodies aren’t used to that (well, unless you’re Wim Hof).

After a few moments adjusting to our new environment, and once our breathing was under control, we started swimming. We didn’t go too far but far enough. The sun was still hitting our heads and top our shoulders, whilst our limbs moved to keep blood flowing through our body.

We stayed in there, I would guess, for at leats 5 minutes, perhaps even nearer 10 (though perception of time is lost when you put yourself in that kind of situation).

After a while we decided to leave the water, we didn’t want to push ourselves to point of no return and to damage our health in any way, so we climbed the steps and dried off before rushing into warmer clothes. For a while my body was shivering, I was unable to stop it, I tried to by slowing my breath but that was a temporary fix. After about 20 minutes my body returned to normal, the shivering had stopped and something happened that I didn’t expect.

I wanted to go back into the water.

The feeling of descending the stairs out of my comfort zone, of pushing myself past limitations I had previously set myself, was exhilarating, I wanted more.

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality” - Seneca

The previous dread that I had felt before entering the water had dissappeared. I enjoyed being in the water, I enjoyed swimming and being outdoors, I enjoyed being with friends. But most of all I enjoyed being uncomfortable and knowing that, by putting myself in that situation, I was growing. I was challenging myself and reaping the benefits.

By removing my thoughts, the past and the future from my mind, I was able to tackle the situation that existed in the present. By doing this, I was able to descend those stairs into the water, rather than focusing on any negative situation that could happen, or previous experiences that may affect my behaviour, I focused on on step at a time. The top rung of the ladder, then the next, and the next, until my body was submerged in the water. By being in the present I was able to conquer the fear I had.

“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new” - Brain Tracy