​Sandra Bullock Smith
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...there is no present like the time....
...there is no time like the present...

Sandra bullock smith

Comfort Zone vs. Capability Zone

11/30/2015

 
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​What is comforting about a comfort zone?  The familiarity of your comfort zone insulates you from a lot of stress and risk.  Yet personal growth doesn’t happen without discomfort.  Personal growth moves you to discover your capabilities. When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the last time you detoured purposely from your comfort zone?

A few years ago, I was crewing for the Hardrock Hundred, a 100 mile endurance race that runs through Telluride, Ouray and Silverton, Colorado. It’s an extremely challenging race, run through remote and wild terrain.  Additionally, it has almost 34,000 feet of climb and 34,000 feet of descent with an average elevation of 11,186 feet.  It is one tough race.  As I was helping my ultrarunning friend, Beth Simpson-Hall at the Telluride Aid Station, she looked at me and said, “This is so out of my comfort zone.”   I didn’t pause with my reply, “This may be out of your comfort zone, but it is not out of your capability zone.”  She told me later how meaningful that exchange was to her as she continued on in her role as a pacer for another runner.

Can you define your comfort zone?  Probably.  Can you define your capability zone?  Most of us cannot because we haven’t explored it. Why? Because it’s out of our comfort zone. I think we miss a lot of growth opportunities life has to offer because of that.

While I favor adrenaline-related challenges, other challenges take you out of your comfort zone. Caring for my mother as she aged was a major departure from my comfort zone.  It was emotionally, intellectually and physically challenging. There was no easy day. Yet, I grew from that experience and found capabilities I didn’t know I had.

Your comfort zone is not a good or bad place. It’s just a natural state we gravitate toward. But by pushing your boundaries, you’ll find it easier to explore and try new things.  Even small steps outside of your routine will help you gain new perspectives. Don’t eat the same thing at your favorite restaurant, take that class you always wished you had time for, make a bucket list and start working on it.  Dream it, plan it, do it. Then come back to your comfort zone for a brief rest.  It’s a great place to rest, not to reside.

So, when is the next time you are going to do something for the first time?

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I cared enough to risk it...

11/23/2015

2 Comments

 
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For several years I have been working on a book about caring for my mother during the last ten years of her life. For most of that time, the manuscript lay dormant in a file on my PC. I was afraid to finish it. What if no one liked it?  Even worse, what if someone disliked it? Publishing a book which contained stories that were so real and raw for me was scary. Like naked-in-public scary. But then after a particularly challenging day with Mom, I decided that my stories and the lessons contained therein could help others in a caregiving role.  In fact, some of the life lessons were applicable to a much broader audience. So I took a leap of faith.  I finished the book.  I published it.  It hit the airwaves via Amazon.com this week.  It's called Trading Places: Becoming My Mother's Mother - A Daughter's Memoir.

So was it easy?  No.  I felt like I had opened a portal into my life that left me exposed.  But I cared enough to risk it.  My friend Chuck Boudreau told me. "You have dared greatly."

 Chuck also told me, "Sandra, what you have done is remarkable. You’ve actually made the effort to coalesce your best thinking into something meant to speak to people who are on their own journey with caring for an elderly parent. The compassion and well-meaning good intentions behind your writing is so incredibly rare and very, very special. You need to know that. Really. It takes courage to do this kind of work. Sometimes we don’t know exactly how much courage until we start getting  negative feedback. Somehow, it seems to speak to our deepest doubt regarding the significance of our story and what we have to offer. Dismiss this voice of diminishment."

Those were words I needed to hear.  What are the words you need to hear to take your leap of faith? What do you dare to accomplish "if only..."?  Care enough to dare greatly. Take your leap.
MY BOOK: AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM CLICK HERE
2 Comments
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    Welcome to my journey. I believe "caring" can be your most effective skill in tackling the challenges in life.  Whether you are striving to achieve a goal, trying to complete a mundane task, or actually providing care for an individual, CARING gives you the focus to succeed.

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