Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...
Published: Thu, 09/01/16
Some comedian on Radio 4 was making a series of comments on modern life, one line was something like. ‘If you never break out of your comfort zone then you will probably be... comfortable! Is that such a bad thing?’ ‘Comfort Zone’ is one of those fashionable concepts which, like most fashionable concepts, it means pretty much what you want it to mean.
It can mean encouragement for, and justification of, behaviour which will likely land you in the divorce/law/bankruptcy courts, the hospital or even the morgue.
Or it can just be a way of telling someone you think they are a wuss or (insert your favourite word for sensibly cautious person) as in. ‘Go on, come bungee jumping/white water rafting/airsofting with us, expand your comfort zone.’
And, like some fashionable concepts it does have its uses for making sense of your life. It is very easy to get settled in a particular way of doing things regardless of whether or not it is taking you anywhere. You know there are alternatives but for some reason you don’t want to try them out. Rationally it makes sense so why the resistance?
We are governed as much by emotion as we are by reason. So, the comfort zone is where we feel, well, comfortable. Emotionally we get to like the comfort of the familiar and the predictable, even predictable mediocrity. Often there are very good practical reasons for not doing something in which case action is probably best avoided. But if there is no material reason for not moving forward and yet it still isn’t happening then the concept of comfort zone can be very useful.
You can realise that you are not being held back by a practical problem but an emotional resistance. Emotions should not be ignored or brutally overridden but it always helps to know the reality of a situation so that appropriate decisions can be made. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that your genuine practical concerns are just your fear of leaving your comfort zone. I have landed myself in three of the five circumstances listed above at different times in my life (and narrowly missed the other two on more than one occasion), stories for another time perhaps.
So, why this concern for ‘comfort zones’? I don’t usually waffle on about things completely in the abstract so something must be on my mind. I am currently doing various things to reach more people as a teacher, which is a KZ challenging thing in itself. More specifically I am going to establish a Historical European Martial Arts based class on a Wednesday evening at Somerset Stav Martial Arts. The longsword will be the main training weapon instead of the staff and the class will include langsax, dagger and spear. Details here http://somersetstav.co.uk/hema.html and tomorrow I will explain why the idea is dragging me out of my comfort zone.
regards
Graham
PS I know the idea of actually doing Stav might be a challenge to your comfort zone. I am not one to judge but why not expand yours? Just in the next month there are opportunities to train with me here in the UK and in Illinois, USA and with Ivar himself, full list here http://www.iceandfire.org/calendar.html