Let's make sure that one thing is clear right from the beginning. This is a list of ten things that would get me out of my comfort zone. This is not a list of ten things that I commit to doing. Some of you might think I am being hypocritical here, and that might be true. I do like to push people to get out of their comfort zones because that is where growth happens. I get out of my comfort zone pretty often. To be totally transparent, I do have some fears that hold me back that I recognize, but that I am not willing to work on right now. I am working with an accountability partner to hold me accountable to taking steps that will move me forward personally and professionally. Who knows though, I may try some of these...
1. Walk down our street and talk to anybody who is outside. - I don't know if people really know this about me, but I am a caveman. I like to come home, shut the door, and hang out with my family.
2. Ride Trax and strike up a conversation with whoever is sitting next to me - I guess it is becoming apparent that I am a pretty shy guy. It really does take a lot for me to start a conversation with people that I don't already have some type of relationship with. It is a fascinating combination, someone who is genuinely interested in people and yet too shy to really initiate a conversation with them. This definitely would get me out of my comfort zone.
3. Go skydiving - This would be way, way, way out of my comfort zone. I won't say that I would never do this, but it is really unlikely. I once told a co-worker, who ran the ropes course at West Ridge Academy, that I would never do the 'leap of faith'. This is a high ropes challenge where you climb up a thirty foot pole, stand on, and then jump off a platform as you try to grab a metal ring that is a few feet away. I ended up doing it a few years later because I was challenging a student to do it and they told me that if I did it, they would. It was really scary. I did grab the ring though, and then I was too scared to let go. So, I started doing pull ups until my arms got too tired to hang on. Which ended up being about two.
4. Play a song on the guitar in the school talent show - OK. This wouldn't actually be this week. But the talent show is coming up and I have vowed to never play my guitar and sing at a talent show ever again. I did it once and the nicest thing that anyone said afterwards was, "It takes a lot of guts to get up there." Ouch.
5. Go to a sporting event and try to get on the kiss cam with Michelle- This would get us both out of our comfort zones. Probably her more than me.
6. Change the oil in my car- I am not mechanically inclined and it is well worth the money to have someone else do any work that we have to have done on the car. I know I could do it if I had to. It would be out of my comfort zone though.
7. Spend $120 on a pair of trousers- People keep telling me that jeans that cost this much are totally worth it. I will probably never know. Spencer Blake, my sociology teacher in college, once taught a lesson about how lower class people, when they win the lottery, or come into money somehow, usually don't spend money on higher quality stuff. They just buy more of the stuff that they would usually buy. Then he shared some of the amounts that the super wealthy spend on ties and shoes and stuff. I don't remember what the exact numbers were, but I remember feeling the same way that I do when I think of spending over $100 on a pair of jeans.
8. Run to work in the morning,,, in my work clothes- I would look weird to everyone who saw me running and I would reek for the rest of the day.
9. Give $20 to the people behind me in line at the checkout stand- It would be a little strange, but this one has the potential to be really cool.
10. Host a star party and teach about the constellations- I just don't know enough. I did see Saturn through a big telescope that I borrowed one time. I was astounded to see it clear enough that I could see space between the planet and the rings. I got up early one morning to look at Jupiter through that telescope too. I could see the stripes, the big red dot, and some of the moons that morning. It blew my mind to think that I was looking at a planet that was 365 million miles away. Maybe I should host a star party and then invite someone with lots of astronomy knowledge to share what they know. Yep, this is going to happen.
1. Walk down our street and talk to anybody who is outside. - I don't know if people really know this about me, but I am a caveman. I like to come home, shut the door, and hang out with my family.
2. Ride Trax and strike up a conversation with whoever is sitting next to me - I guess it is becoming apparent that I am a pretty shy guy. It really does take a lot for me to start a conversation with people that I don't already have some type of relationship with. It is a fascinating combination, someone who is genuinely interested in people and yet too shy to really initiate a conversation with them. This definitely would get me out of my comfort zone.
3. Go skydiving - This would be way, way, way out of my comfort zone. I won't say that I would never do this, but it is really unlikely. I once told a co-worker, who ran the ropes course at West Ridge Academy, that I would never do the 'leap of faith'. This is a high ropes challenge where you climb up a thirty foot pole, stand on, and then jump off a platform as you try to grab a metal ring that is a few feet away. I ended up doing it a few years later because I was challenging a student to do it and they told me that if I did it, they would. It was really scary. I did grab the ring though, and then I was too scared to let go. So, I started doing pull ups until my arms got too tired to hang on. Which ended up being about two.
4. Play a song on the guitar in the school talent show - OK. This wouldn't actually be this week. But the talent show is coming up and I have vowed to never play my guitar and sing at a talent show ever again. I did it once and the nicest thing that anyone said afterwards was, "It takes a lot of guts to get up there." Ouch.
5. Go to a sporting event and try to get on the kiss cam with Michelle- This would get us both out of our comfort zones. Probably her more than me.
6. Change the oil in my car- I am not mechanically inclined and it is well worth the money to have someone else do any work that we have to have done on the car. I know I could do it if I had to. It would be out of my comfort zone though.
7. Spend $120 on a pair of trousers- People keep telling me that jeans that cost this much are totally worth it. I will probably never know. Spencer Blake, my sociology teacher in college, once taught a lesson about how lower class people, when they win the lottery, or come into money somehow, usually don't spend money on higher quality stuff. They just buy more of the stuff that they would usually buy. Then he shared some of the amounts that the super wealthy spend on ties and shoes and stuff. I don't remember what the exact numbers were, but I remember feeling the same way that I do when I think of spending over $100 on a pair of jeans.
8. Run to work in the morning,,, in my work clothes- I would look weird to everyone who saw me running and I would reek for the rest of the day.
9. Give $20 to the people behind me in line at the checkout stand- It would be a little strange, but this one has the potential to be really cool.
10. Host a star party and teach about the constellations- I just don't know enough. I did see Saturn through a big telescope that I borrowed one time. I was astounded to see it clear enough that I could see space between the planet and the rings. I got up early one morning to look at Jupiter through that telescope too. I could see the stripes, the big red dot, and some of the moons that morning. It blew my mind to think that I was looking at a planet that was 365 million miles away. Maybe I should host a star party and then invite someone with lots of astronomy knowledge to share what they know. Yep, this is going to happen.
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53460575@N03/16149979389">Jupiter & Io - January 2001</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>