This week's thank you: To the one stepping out of her comfort zone

Treasure Map, Ahoy! by Ted Major on Flickr CC BY SA

The comfort zone is rarely comfortable. Especially if you know there is more out there. Sure, in the comfort zone you know what to expect. There are few surprises. But it's more familiar. Easy. Default. Not really comfortable.

I've been planning for the past 18 years to leave Columbia, MO. It's a nice place to live, sure. But it's familiar. Very few surprises. I know there is more out there. But each time I start to think that maybe this is the time, something happens that I let derail me. I take comfort in the default. In few surprises.

What I let derail me were excuses. Yes, it would have been harder to move somewhere else when my son was a baby. Yes, I might not have gotten a good job right away. Or I might have gotten a better one. I talked myself out of the unfamiliar and stayed with what was safe.

A few months ago, I was traveling with a co-worker to visit schools in Texas. "I love it here," she said. Having lived in Columbia like me, found a good job after graduation like me, I knew what she was talking about. She needed a change. And not just a new pair of shoes kind of change.

About a week ago, she made it known that she was moving to Texas. She didn't have a job lined up just yet, but with her management skills and call center experience, she wouldn't have a problem finding something once she landed. She had a plan, and she wasn't letting excuses get in her way.

Congratulations, Kristina, on your new adventure, and thank you for showing me that it can be done.

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