Comfort Zone...What Comfort Zone?

I cannot be the only one...who has realized that as a parent you find yourself outside the confines of your comfort zone quite often. Often enough that being in situations that you find yourself learning something new or experiencing new feelings has ironically become part of your comfort zone.

While riding in the back seat of my friend's car the other day, on our way to play a spirited round of laser tag (I'll explain more later), my friend's husband said, "We don't step outside our comfort zone enough as adults". I thought about that statement for a moment, this is an idea you hear pronounced quite a bit as an adult, but I had to disagree, at least for myself (I also lumped in my friend who was sitting in the passenger seat).

My friend and I have been pretty active at trying new things as of late.  I am talking about the friend that I joined the gym with and we have been attending a multitude of group fitness classes that we are not generally subscribers of.  I'm talking Mat Pilates, Vinyasa Yoga, Gentle Yoga, Ballet Boot Camp, and Zumba just to name a few (trust me, my muscles have definitely been feeling outside their comfort zone).

Also, on a girls night out recently, we sipped a wine or three and decided we weren't ending our Mama's evening out on the town without joining in with the young crowd to offer our voices to the Karaoke that was happening.  Everyone in that bar sang Karaoke, everyone including the bartender between pouring drinks, I was not going to let us leave that place as the two old broads that didn't join in (I am not sure people thought we were necessarily "old broads" but when I put it that way to my friend she was ready for that microphone, comfort zone or not).

Laser Tag Photo credit: Ultrazone Laser Tag

And what about the fact that were in the car heading to a laser tag place? My friend was hosting an adults only laser tag party, where we were going to run around a black light lit maze-like room, wearing kind-of stinky vest that sported flashing lights on them, using laser guns with goofy names like "inferno" and "boomer", and destroy the other teams bases all while trying to not get shot with lasers, this was a prime example of us stepping out of our comfort zone.

Later that evening, I was thinking about our conversation in the car, and I started wondering why I have become rather comfortable stepping outside my comfort zone.  I think that as a Mama you can't help but see the world through your children's eyes, their fears that can seem so silly, their apprehension about new things that are truly only new for a moment, their lack of confidence over situations that if they just could muster a bit of bravery they would soar right through, and you start to realize that the same is true for most new situations as an adult.

I don't worry about looking like I don't know what I am doing in the midst of a new situation because I how can I help it, I don't know what I am doing.  I am not afraid of asking questions if I don't understand something because that's how you learn and I trust that I am not being judged by anyone but myself, so if I treat myself kindly most likely others will too. All those thoughts make my comfort zone more like guidelines rather than areas of discomfort.