The Archangels Give Us the Pros and Cons
Who doesn’t like being comfortable? Isn’t that what we all crave? Being comfortable is important and something we all strive to be, but as in most cases, too much of a good thing can sully it.
I try to live in a way that is conducive to my peace of mind, but my peace of mind doesn’t only require comfort, it requires challenges, growth, and accomplishment. The Angels often remind us to remember to celebrate our accomplishments, however small. We should take pride in what we do, and we should congratulate ourselves and each other on a job well done. Afterwards, we should take some time for reflection and also to relax a bit, spending some time in the comfort zone.
However, if we spend too much time in the comfort zone, it can hinder our growth and evolution. Like much in life, it’s a balance. I asked the Archangels about this, and they offer guidance in finding a balance between growth and comfort.
Question: I want to write about how holding onto the comfort zone too tightly can lead to a deficit. Can you please offer some guidance regarding the balance between comfort and growth?
Answer:
Everyone wants to be comfortable, and being comfortable is not a bad thing, unless it becomes the overreaching goal, surpassing personal growth and evolution. This is yet another aspect of life where you need to find a healthy balance.
Change and growth are not comfortable, but they are necessary. So, however, is peace of mind. You must strive to be comfortable in your own skin, however your skin is naturally elastic, and it allows for growth, does it not? It is important to challenge yourself, so that your comfort zone does not become stagnant.
It is important to remain calm, which is much easier to do when you are comfortable. However, being comfortable should not be more important than growth. If you only ever did what you were naturally good at, you would never know your potential. There is a time for easy and also a time for difficulty. Easy is comfortable, but if you never challenge yourself, easy becomes boring, and life is not meant to be boring. Life should be enjoyed.
The comfort zone is relaxing, and being able to relax is a good thing, but it can also be limiting, especially when fear is a factor. For some, fear and challenge combine to become a something people wish to avoid, and that can obscure their potential. How can you become aware of your limits and grow if you do not challenge yourself? You should not make assumptions regarding your limits, for the vast majority of you have no realization of your great potential, and you will never know what you are capable of if you do not push beyond your comfort level. Your comfort level should be ever changing.
Our channel believes if someone else can do something, and she wishes to also do it and put in the time and effort required, she also can do it, and that is a positive way to view potential. Yes, there are physical limits at times, and yes, some people are gifted in areas that others are not, but the potential each of you has is fairly limitless if something becomes important to you.
Thinking of a time when you challenged yourself, and you were able to eventually succeed. Success, after challenge and effort is a very heady and rewarding experience. There is a sense of accomplishment, along with a glimpse of power, attached to it. It feels good, right? Perhaps there was doubt initially, but you were able to overcome it and prove to yourself that you were strong and capable enough to succeed, along with dismissing any fear and uncertainty you might have had. After such an accomplishment, you have earned time in the comfort zone, but if you notice, you will see that your zone of comfort has changed. It has expanded, along with your self-confidence.
The comfort zone becomes a liability when you refuse to step beyond it and allow fear to overshadow your power and hinder your expansion into new territory. Whereas The Shift encourages growth, evolution, and faith in yourself, for some who allow fear to rule their lives, it provokes uncertainty, a feeling of being threatened, anger, and more fear.
You see people like this who are scrambling for control and power over others. They fear a loss of their comfort zone, when in fact, they have none to begin with; to believe that you are threatened by the acts of others that in no way affect you shows an overabundance of fear, a lack of comfort, and a lack of balance. People who allow fear to become the leading factor in making decisions and guiding their life have no comfort zone or peace of mind, nor will they attain these things until they question and put away their fears, as they are usually unfounded and a product of manipulation by others who seek power and control of their own. People such as these believe anyone or anything that is different from what they are comfortable with is dangerous. Different does not mean dangerous.
People who seek to control and limit others because they feel threatened by choices which do not affect them have negated their own power and given it away to others. They have little or no faith in themselves to navigate change or in their ability to embrace their own power. All they know is fear.
They talk about the past in idealistic terms, and they are so consumed with fear of what the future may hold, they do not experience the present or consider that the future can become better. They focus on tradition and what they think they know, which again is based in fear and therefore unrealistic, and they resist change at all costs, despite the fact that change is needed. They do not consider the needs of others. They are stuck in a survival mode they cannot escape without making changes they refuse to consider. They are not satisfied doing things their own way. They want others to do things their way, also. Uniformity, assuming it meets with their approval, is an unattainable goal they desperately seek.
In short, while the comfort zone is, well, comfortable for a while, as well as enjoyable, it is not a place where you should stay indefinitely or ever try to settle in for long periods of time. If you stay too long and refuse to challenge yourself, evolve or change, you become stagnant, restless, and dissatisfied, and you are left behind.
Balance is needed. Evolve, change, and grow, then reside in the comfort zone for a time of celebration and reevaluation. Enjoy a sense of accomplishment and notice that your zone, your power, and your self-confidence has grown. Then consider new ways to continue these expansions. This is how you learn to enjoy life and believe in yourself.
When you see changes occurring, do not assume you should be afraid, and do not automatically think you should fight or resist the changes. Evaluate them and grow with them if possible, and accept new challenges with self-confidence, knowing you are capable of navigating change. Feel your own power and believe in yourself. Do not concern yourself with what others do that does not affect you. Focus on what you are doing and need to do as you move forward. Grow. Evolve.
We send you all healing energies of Love and Light, and we invite you to reach beyond what you already know, understand, and have conquered. Sometimes this takes courage, but if you approach it with a sense of adventure, it can also be fun and rewarding.
Final Thoughts
I’d like to address a couple of the things in this message. First, looking back at the accomplishments of a lifetime (so far), I would never have done the things I’ve done and continue to do without challenging myself and leaving my comfort zone behind. And sure enough, as I accomplished more things, the very small area taken up by my comfort zone expanding into a healthy chunk of real estate!
I like relaxing and being comfortable as much as the next guy, but if that was all I did, I would get bored after a while. While the comfort zone is a nice place to visit, it doesn’t make for a good, permanent place to stay. Not only does it become a jail of sorts, but it can take a toll on health. When you don’t challenge your mind, it grows weak, and eventually, learning something new or even remembering things you once knew becomes a challenge that some never overcome again.
Secondly, I want to expand on the part where the Angels mentioned that different isn’t necessarily dangerous. Different can, in fact, be wonderful, interesting, mind-expanding, and exciting, if you can get past your uncertainty and leave your comfort zone, however briefly.
I knew a lady who had grown up believing that gay people were dangerous and deviants. There was a gay man who worked in her section that she mostly avoided. She didn’t go out of her way to be mean or ostracize him, but she was wary and fearful of him and didn’t want anything to do with him, simply because his kind of “different” was supposedly dangerous. This was probably forty years ago, before most gay people were open about their lifestyle.
She walked to the parking lot and discovered she had a flat tire, and who was walking behind her when she discovered it, but the gay man she kept at a distance. He helped her by changing her tire, which she had no idea how to do, and he was nice to her the entire time. Afterwards, as she drove home, she wondered why she had ever feared him. She realized he was much more like her than he was different, and shocker, he was a really nice guy.
To her credit, she allowed this lesson to resonate and serve as a reminder that fears can be baseless, and people can be misunderstood, and she should come to her own conclusions based on her own experience, rather than accept the words of others without question. She and the man who changed her tire became friends, and she wondered why she’d ever feared him in the first place.
I’ve heard countless stories like this, haven’t you? Someone being afraid of something or someone only to discover that, once they investigated or exposed themselves to the person of thing in question, they realized there was nothing to be afraid of, and they expanded their viewpoint, learned something, while their comfort zone grew bigger.
That’s something for all of us to keep in mind when we realize we’re afraid of something we really know little or nothing about. This is why it’s so important to keep an open mind about everything, and especially, everyone. We love our labels, but they can be very limiting. It’s better to remain open to new possibilities than to remain closed to anything that is different from what we consider “normal.”
Blessings, all.
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