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Spread Your Wings and Fly

Airborne Muse
Creative Commons License photo credit: jurvet­son

“Be like the bird that, paus­ing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, know­ing that she hath wings.” ~ Vic­tor Hugo

In a post over at Lov­ing Pulse, Davina wrote Look Ma, I Can Fly.  A story about a baby pigeon and his days lead­ing up to the moment he spread his wings and flew.

This got me think­ing about how the life of a bird is like our life.

The nest is our safety zone.  A place of com­fort.  This could be our home, a famil­iar face, a rou­tine we fol­low, or what­ever else it is that makes us feel safe.  Our com­fort zone.  But some­times we have to leave the nest.  Some­times we have to head out into areas we are not famil­iar with, doing things we haven’t done before.  Some­times we have to get out of our com­fort zone.  Espe­cially if we want to grow and really live our life.

And that’s when we need to spread our wings, like a majes­tic bird high in the sky, spread our wings and soar!  Maybe we’ll crash the first few times, but the more we keep at it, the sooner we WILL be soar­ing.  Soar­ing to new heights in our life.

What nest are you in right now?  What’s your com­fort zone?  Is it time to step out of it, and fly to new heights?

Think about it.  Maybe your good where you’re at right now.  That’s ok.  Some­times your com­fort zone is the right place to be.  But maybe, your com­fort zone has become a lit­tle too comfortable.

Spread your wings and fly!

Lance writes sto­ries from his heart, aim­ing to inspire and moti­vate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he’s not here, you can find him hang­ing out with his fam­ily, rid­ing a bike, or just gen­er­ally act­ing goofy.   Sign up for the Thoughts from the Tree­house newslet­ter and get addi­tional inspi­ra­tion in your email inbox!
Lance Ekum
View all posts by Lance Ekum

Comments

  1. Avani-Mehta says:

    When­ever I start expe­ri­enc­ing bore­dom or rest­less­ness repeat­edly, I know, it’s time to fly and cre­ate new expe­ri­ences. What about you? How do you know it’s time?

    Avani-Mehtas last blog post..How To Pick Your First Anger Man­age­ment Area — Anger Man­age­ment Series Part IV

  2. I’m lik­ing my nest right now. It’s comfy and roomy and has an amaz­ing div­ing board that I use to prac­tice my jumps. I jump often and also like to return to my nest at the end of the day for a good night sleep.

    Stacey / Cre­ate­a­Bal­ances last blog post..The Secret Ingre­di­ent for Life Bal­ance — Prac­tice Being Selfish

  3. Marelisa says:

    I saw a YouTube video of two lit­tle hum­ming­birds that showed the entire process from the time they hatched to the moment they flew out of the nest. When they first fly out they kind of fall a part of the way and then man­age to fly a lit­tle bit to a nearby branch. I think we’re scared of that moment when we first step out of our com­fort zone because there does tend to be a drop, but if we just push through it we find we’ve landed safely on another branch.

    Marelisas last blog post..Thoughts to Get Your Cre­ative Juices Flowing

  4. Harmony says:

    AWWWWW. I just left a really thought­ful response. And your page wouldn’t accept it. Guess it wasn’t meant to be said. :-( Thanks for your urg­ing to stretch when we need to, want to or just might have to! Your about page is great.

    Har­monys last blog post..The Power Bro­ker Bust (pt 2 of 4)

  5. Evelyn Lim says:

    The French poet-philosopher Guil­laume Apol­li­naire wrote…

    Come to the edge.“
    “We can’t. We are afraid.“
    “Come to the edge.“
    “We can’t. We will fall!”

    Come to the edge.”

    And they came.
    And he pushed them.

    And they flew.

    Eve­lyn Lims last blog post..Mind Travel To Ancient Egypt

  6. Davina says:

    Hi Lance. Thank you very much for the link. This was beau­ti­fully said and that pic­ture gives me chills.

    Com­fort zone! Hah. I’m fly­ing by the seat of my pants right now. In a nut­shell; no job since April 2007, self-employment pro­gram last Oct to this past Aug, started a busi­ness in Jan­u­ary that I just closed, now liv­ing off my sav­ings while start­ing another busi­ness. I hope I find another nest soon :-) My wings are get­ting tired!

    Davinas last blog post..I’m Over The Moon As NBOTW

  7. I agree that some peo­ple are really truly happy where they are.

    No need to make changes when you’re content.

    But if a per­son is unhappy, step­ping out of their com­fort zone and try­ing some­thing new can make a HUGE difference.

  8. Writer Dad says:

    I get too com­fort­able every three years or so. It’s def­i­nitely that time.

    Writer Dads last blog post..Hi, My Name is Sean (Not Seen).

  9. Maya says:

    I won­der why , but I seem to have the oppo­site prob­lem. I just can­not seem to enjoy the safety zone … I try to pick up and fly … too often. But that is what I love. I am more com­fort­able fly­ing and crash­ing. Strangely enough, the crash­ing is what keeps me going .…keeps me pick­ing back up.

    Mayas last blog post..Are we tak­ing the time to meditate?

  10. Hi Lance — This is great advice. When I think of myself, I spread my wings a lot through the years. Now, you might say, I’ve come home to roost and am thor­oughly enjoy­ing my nest.

    Bar­bara Swaf­fords last blog post..Signs of A Blogoholic

  11. Glee Girl says:

    I need to spread my wings and find a new job. There’s lots I like about it and I’m not unhappy, but after 4 years, I think I need to move on. Being “not unhappy” is not the same as being happy.…

    Glee Girls last blog post..Warm woollen mit­tens, thun­der and frockage

  12. Annette says:

    I love my nest.……it’s pre­dictable and secure. Lately, I have been test­ing my wings a bit.……but only for a lit­tle while, and then I return to the com­fort of my nest. I strug­gle with these nest issues every­day but I’m happy to say, I am feel­ing more and more at peace each day when I do have to leave the nest.

    Nice post, Lance :)

    Annettes last blog post..Progress Photos/HYC Update/CC Xmas Challenge–Just a bit late :)

  13. Lance says:

    @Avani — You’re chal­leng­ing me this morn­ing Avani! How do I know it’s time to leave the nest? I think when things start to seem “stale”. Rest­less­ness is a good way to describe it, as you have. When my mind no longer seems like sparks are going off. And, some­times when things just feel too comfortable…Thanks for mak­ing me ques­tion this more in depth Avani. It’s made me real­ize more what this inter­nally means to me.

    @Stacey/CreateaBalance — I love the way you’re look­ing at this Stacey…our nest being safety and com­fort, and some­thing we can keep com­ing back to. It’s a place we know and feel com­fort­able in, and that helps us to spread our wings, because we know we can always come back to this spot.…Wow, it’s pow­er­ful thought for me this morning.

    @Marelisa — The hum­ming­birds, what a great exam­ple Marelisa! I think that is how it feels too. We fear that ini­tial drop, won­der­ing if our “wings” will do their thing. And some­times all we have to do is make it to the next branch — like tak­ing baby steps toward our ulti­mate goal.

    @Harmony — Dang, now I’m won­der­ing what is was you had written…And, hey, I’m glad you like the “about” page, I’ve recently updated it!

    @Evelyn — Thanks for shar­ing that quote Eve­lyn — it fits this per­fectly! And is so true, both for birds and for us and we step out of our com­fort zones (or are gen­tly helped out of them).

    @Davina — Wow, you really have been giv­ing your wings a real work­out! While it can be exhaust­ing, I’m guess­ing it was an excit­ing time in your life too. Here’s to find­ing a nest soon — and a lit­tle break from all your soaring.

    @Vered — Yes, I agree. There is noth­ing wrong with a com­fort zone, as long as you are happy there. But if it feels like some­thing is “miss­ing”, that’s a good time to spread your wings and step out. Even though it can be scary sometimes…

    @Writer Dad — I think you’re step­ping out as we speak! Good luck in the new direc­tions you’ll be going!

    @Maya — Well, that’s another great point. Some peo­ple really thrive on change. You sound like one of them. A com­fort zone can be a good place to know is “avail­able” if you need it, and then just use that as a base to fly out of. When you’re out spread­ing your wings, you have many expe­ri­ences — expe­ri­ences that help to shape who you are. So, keep on fly­ing, reach­ing new heights! Do what you love and keep on chal­leng­ing yourself!

    @Barbara — Some­times we go in streaks, depend­ing upon where we are in our lives. When I was younger, I seemed to fly more. Once we had kids, the com­fort zone had more appeal. For me, it’s a mix that works well. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoy­ing your “nest”.

    @Glee Girl — Excel­lent point, and exam­ple. Some­times we can be not unhappy, and that is really not the same as happy. Indif­fer­ent, maybe. And that can some­times be hard. When we are unhappy, it’s some­times eas­ier to change. To spread our wings, per se. But it can be alto­gether dif­fer­ent when we’re some­place between happy and unhappy. This can make it much more dif­fi­cult to leave the nest. I wish you well, Glee Girl, on the deci­sions you have in front of you.

    @Annette — There is some­thing about our “nest” and the secu­rity it pro­vides. And yet, still, it’s good to get out of it and expe­ri­ence new expe­ri­ences, to live new dreams, and to soar to new heights! It can be a strug­gle for many, the unknown, and what will hap­pen when we step out of that nest. I’ve felt that way too. And the more we do it, step out and spread our wings, the more com­fort­able we get with doing it. Not to say, that the fear ever com­pletely goes away, but I think we get bet­ter at accept­ing it in our lives, and work­ing through it. Con­tinue to soar Annette!

  14. I think that just about the time I find I am in my com­fort zone I take a hand grenade to it. For some rea­son it isn’t in my nature to be stag­nant, and the truth is I should kick back and rest a lit­tle more. I think they call that bal­ance. But I am always stretch­ing for that next level. I can’t seem to help myself. I am hard-wired with a love for learn­ing new things.

    Wendi Kelly-Life’s Lit­tle Inspi­ra­tionss last blog post..Remem­ber­ing Pen Pals…

  15. Ellen Wilson says:

    Hi Lance,

    Ellen Wilsons last blog post..The Power of Per­spec­tive in Photography

  16. Ellen Wilson says:

    Hi Lance,

    The above com­ment was a test because I got an error say­ing I need to enable java cook­ies. java cook­ies sounds like a good treat.

    Any­way, what I was say­ing was I need to relax because being very active seems to be more of my com­fort zone, or more ade­quately, not my com­fort zone. After I get wound up work­ing for awhile I find that it’s really hard to mel­low out.

    Ellen Wilsons last blog post..The Power of Per­spec­tive in Photography

  17. Jennifer says:

    I think Ellen said it well. It’s easy for me as well to get so comfy being so busy — even though it’s not really comfy, but it’s what I get used to. Learn­ing to relax can be dif­fi­cult if I’ve been caught up in the hus­tle bustle.

    Really it’s a mat­ter of see­ing the need for some­thing dif­fer­ent, sit­ting down and mak­ing some goals, see­ing where I want to be and count­ing the cost. What do I have to do to get to where I want to be and then the big ques­tion… “Am I will­ing to do what it takes.” That deci­sion has to be made. If the answer is yes, I will bust through that com­fort zone no mat­ter what.

    Yes, it is time for new heights for me. Onward I go.

    Jen­nifers last blog post..Heroes of Heal­ing: Ron Wilkins

  18. Tammy Warren says:

    I love my nest. I just wish I would stop try­ing to add chaos. I love the “busy” life of being on the go mom, career, and pet lover (I can’t for­get the dog). Slow­ing down to enjoy the home, my nest, is tough. I seem to enjoy the rush of it all. I would not say that I am a liv­ing on the edge per­son. I guess I just feel like mov­ing and tak­ing all of life in. I do some­times stop and remind myself that life is right in front of me. I don’t have to add stresses and push the bound­aries. I do not have a “fam­ily” net­work around me. My fam­ily is scat­tered. I wish my chil­dren did have the “nest” feel­ing of sit­ting on a front porch with grand­par­ents, etc. In the mean­time, I have my own lit­tle happy nest and I plan on keep­ing it all nice and warm. Hey…I am the “momma bird” ya know.

    Tammy War­rens last blog post..Was that a com­pli­ment? Think about it.

  19. Sim­i­lar to Writer Dad I tend to be on a cycle. When I worked cor­po­rate I would get antsy every 2 or 3 years — needed a change. When I’m no longer being chal­lenged, I need a change. I’m in that same place now, 2.5 years after start­ing my busi­ness I’m chang­ing and evolv­ing and stretch­ing myself — doing things I had only dreamed about in the past. The more I do it, the more the “stretch” becomes com­fort­able and the “com­fort” becomes uncom­fort­able. It’s exciting!

    Stacey Ship­mans last blog post..Enjoy each day…and the weekend!

  20. Brian says:

    Lance,

    Some­times we get pushed from the nest, but we can still soar to great heights. I was in a major rut in my life and then was pushed from my com­fort zone. It is the per­fect time to make the changes in my life, changes that should have been made years ago. I am find­ing that I can indeed fly. It is star­tling to be jarred out of the nest, but it can be a bless­ing if we just flap our wings.

    I really like your blog! Keep up the good work…

    Brian

    Bri­ans last blog post..Down by the river…

  21. chris says:

    It’s tempt­ing to spread your wings but it’s also very reas­sur­ing to stay within your nest.

    If you’re the type of per­son that likes to mix it up and expe­ri­ence new things, by all means fly and soar. But if you like the com­fort of your nest and it makes you sleep well at night, then so be it, be comfortable.

    As for me, I like a warm bed at night and an occa­sional clan­des­tine meet­ing in the afternoon.

    chriss last blog post..I Don’t Get It

  22. Lance says:

    @Wendi — So, you like to keep things inter­est­ing, huh, Wendi! Bal­ance — that thing that can some­times be so elu­sive. I’m guess­ing many deal with this at some time in their life. Keep learn­ing Wendi, but also take some time to enjoy what you have (I know you do…).

    @Ellen — Mmm…cookies…I want some! Mel­low can be good, but being able to shift gears from being very active to being more mel­low can be dif­fi­cult. Some­times being “mel­low” seems like we’re miss­ing out on some­thing else. That’s why I think it can seem hard to switch gears some­times. On the other hand, time spent in your com­fort zone can be very reward­ing as well — and good for the soul, espe­cially if you haven’t had much of that time.

    @Jennifer — Com­fort in being busy — hmmm — so maybe that becomes your “nest”. Busy-ness. I think it’s a mat­ter of per­spec­tive. My com­fort zone may be dif­fer­ent from yours. I think the real spread­ing of our wings comes, not nec­es­sar­ily from being busy, but from ven­tur­ing into new, uncharted ter­ri­tory for us. I’m not sure if this is where you were going with this Jen­nifer, but it’s mak­ing me think — if just being “busy” is a com­fort zone for me. And if that holds me back from try­ing new things…

    @Tammy — Like what I wrote to Jen­nifer, this is mak­ing me think also about if busy-ness is a com­fort zone some­times. If we take com­fort in our busy life? And part of step­ping out and spread­ing our wings means let­ting go of some of this busy-ness. This is really mak­ing me think this morning.

    @Stacey Ship­man — I think that’s a good process to go through. We step out of our com­fort zone and fly in new direc­tions. And maybe this lands us at a new place in our life, and a new “nest” is devel­oped. We stay there until we’re ready to fly again. It’s a jour­ney, and only us indi­vid­u­ally can answer what that means to us.

    @Brian — Some­times we leave the nest will­ingly, and some­times we are pushed. That’s a good point. And that’s what it takes some­times, a lit­tle push to get us going. I think we’ve all been in ruts at some point in our life. That you’re fly­ing in a direc­tion you desire is great Brian! Thanks for stop­ping by.

    @Chris — That’s right, it’s dif­fer­ent strokes for dif­fer­ent folks. We should do what makes us each happy and sat­is­fied with life.

  23. Sarah says:

    I loved this post, Lance. Find­ing that courage to jump out of the nest is some­times so dif­fi­cult, but then so reward­ing. If we never leave the ground, we’ll never know if we can fly. It’s so tempt­ing to stay where it’s com­fort­able, and I’m one who thinks that’s a good place to be, but those who take no risks can’t under­stand the joy of one taken and suc­ceeded in.

  24. Sherre says:

    There have been a few blog­gers recently address­ing the stretch­ing beyond our com­fort zone. I def­i­nitely have a prob­lem ven­tur­ing out of my com­fort zone, but with all these posts, I think some­one is try­ing to tell me some­thing. So thank you.

    Sher­res last blog post..Mon­day Miscellany

  25. Bobbi says:

    ooo I am flying:)

    Bob­bis last blog post..Your engine is shot!

  26. For me it’s not an either-or thing. I try to keep the right amount of chal­lenge in my life. I think in terms of the opti­miz­ing stress/challenge graph to keep liv­ing life as an adventure.

    Jean Browman–Cheerful Monks last blog post..Is This Really The Best Use of My Time?

  27. Caroline says:

    Beau­ti­fully writ­ten. It is time for me to peer over the edge of the nest and fly…easier said then done…but I’m gonna try. Thanks for this inspir­ing post!

    Car­o­lines last blog post..The mean­ing of life in 700 words…

  28. I love the idea that our nest is our com­fort zone! I always had dreams about fly­ing, and now this kind of makes sub­con­scious sense. ;)

    Thanks for the thought-provoking post!

    Nathalie Lussier from Bil­lion­aire Wom­ans last blog post..Self-Employment: One Self­ish Way to Finan­cial Independence

  29. BC Doan says:

    What an inspir­ing post! Love it!

  30. Lance says:

    @Sarah — Right on Sarah! It can seem scary and daunt­ing to make that jump, but then it’s usu­ally an exhil­a­rat­ing ride once we do! A com­fort zone is good, but some­times we need to spread our wings to see where else we might go…

    @Sherre — It can be scary, the unknown. I’ll be cheer­ing you on when you’re ready to ven­ture out and spread your wings Sherre…

    @Bobbi — Excel­lent! Soar high Bobbi!

    @Jean — Right, it’s a bal­ance. I like the graph, it’s a nice visual rep­re­sen­ta­tion of where a good place to is at. Thanks for shar­ing it here Jean.

    @Caroline — You can do it…when you’re ready. I know, it is eas­ier said than done. Look­ing over the edge can seem pretty daunt­ing. When­ever you’re ready, Car­o­line, you’ll soar high! And it will be awesome!

    @Nathalie — Fly high Nathalie, and know that you’ll always have a nest, a com­fort zone, to come back to!

    @BC Doan — Thank you!

  31. Sagan says:

    I’ve been step­ping out of my com­fort zone a lot lately– mov­ing out for the first time and get­ting really involved in dif­fer­ent classes at school that I nor­mally wouldn’t do really con­tribute to it! We can learn so much from test­ing our limits.

    Sagans last blog post..Today I turn 20!

  32. Lance says:

    @Sagan — Good for you! Test­ing our lim­its is a great way to not only learn some­thing new, but also to learn about our­selves in the process.

  33. Glen Allsopp says:

    It’s a great mes­sage that you share and one that I would def­i­nitely like to live by. Take con­trol of your life and fol­low your path, and as you say, if you crash a few times just get up and try again.

    Left you a review on StumbleUpon!

    Cheers,
    Glen

    Glen All­sopps last blog post..7 Ben­e­fits of Liv­ing Consciously

  34. Annette says:

    Please stop by my blog today :) There is some­thing wait­ing for you!

    Annettes last blog post..What Would You Pass On?

  35. Pink Ink says:

    This year has been a great year for me to spread my wings and fly. I feel like I have taken more steps towards my dream of hav­ing a novel pub­lished. On a less seri­ous note, I am trad­ing piano lessons for clog­ging lessons :-) . Def­i­nitely com­ing out of my com­fort zone!

    Pink Inks last blog post..Please, No Lies

  36. my nest is too bor­ing and too small right now. i need to bust out and do some­thing new. some­thing new that is NOT just another respon­si­bil­ity (i con­fuse the two some­times.) some­thing fun. that doesnt cost money

    you got me thinking!

    Kelly Turner
    http://www.groundedfitness.com

    Ground­ed­Fit­nesss last blog post..The Bane of My Fit­ness Exis­tence: The Pull-up

  37. MizFit says:

    Ive no clue on this one and yet I pon­der it often oh wise Lance.

    Im kinda comfy.
    Im kinda try­ing to stay comfy as I know my daugh­ter thrives on our rou­tine.
    Im also plan­ning my lif­er­e­launch for when she (and I) is ready.

    M.

    Miz­Fits last blog post..Im no Pre­lut­sky (please to insert *sigh*)—yet with the rhyming I love it. I try.

  38. Mark Salinas says:

    Oh yes the com­fort zone. I believe that it is human nature to “stay under the cov­ers” when it is cold out there. I also believe that we can expand our com­fort zone through action and expe­ri­ence. Great post as always my friend.…have a great weekend!

    Mark Sali­nass last blog post..Daily Life Challenge

  39. When you wake up in the morn­ing look in the mir­ror and ask your­self “do I like what I am doing today” if too many days go by when the answer is no its prob­a­bly time to spread your wings and fly.…..if pos­si­ble. Just make sure you don’t fly the nest and leave all the baby birds behind with­out any­one to feed them!!!

  40. Cath Lawson says:

    Hi Lance — I love the way you get your mes­sage across in these sto­ries. Alot of peo­ple never bother to move out of their com­fort zone at all and that is really sad.

  41. Carla says:

    I think my nest is my day-to-day 9–5 lifestyle. For years, (not that many, I’m only 29) I’ve wanted to branch out and start my own busi­ness and/or free­lance (some­thing I’ve only done while unem­ployed). Now that I’m on the verge of launch­ing my site, I start to have those fears of leav­ing my “nest”. I am in a good posi­tion right now: I have a reg­u­lar pay check and health insur­ance, so I have a mea­sure of sta­bil­ity. I just need to start by fly­ing to the next branch and the next one until I’m able to soar the skies with­out the need to stay close to the nest.

  42. Lance says:

    @Glen — I, too, would like to live by this phi­los­o­phy. Some­times I do…

    @Annette — Thank you!!!

    @Pink Ink — Yes, it does sound like you really have spread your wings and soared this year! Work on a novel, that’s pretty awe­some! And try­ing some­thing new (clog­ging) — that’s def­i­nitely jump­ing out of the nest! Way to go Pink Ink!

    @Grounded Fit­ness — Some­thing new that isn’t just another respon­si­bil­ity — that’s a good point Kelly. Some­times we take stuff on and it just becomes that — another respon­si­bil­ity. And that’s not soar­ing. So, here’s to find­ing some­thing new and excit­ing (and free!)!

    @MizFit — You build me up too much, Miz­Fit — I’m going to get a big head… Comfy is a good place to be some­times, and you’re there now. Enjoy it! Life re-launch, that just sounds impres­sive, and soaring…

    @Mark — Take action, get mov­ing — that is what it takes isn’t it! We’re not going to get out from under the cov­ers unless we take some action and just do it. And once we do, it can be a fun ride…

    @Dave — That’s a good way to look at it. If you’re not happy doing what you do, then that’s a good time to leave the nest of com­fort, and fly to new heights. Even if you crash along the way, you’re still mov­ing and learn­ing and grow­ing. And you get back up and fly again…

    @Cath — Some­times we can become too com­fort­able in our com­fort zones, can’t we Cath.

    @Carla — That’s a great atti­tude to have Carla! You’ll do well. Going from one branch to another is great, because it’s tak­ing small steps in the direc­tion you desire to go. And it doesn’t feel as scary or unknown when you take these small steps. Good luck to you in these new endeav­ors com­ing up! I’m sure you’ll soar high!

  43. Love the post! Well I think that I have been spread­ing my wings a bit. I’ve moved out of the world of sloth and have been work­ing on becom­ing a health­ier per­son for me and my fam­ily! I’ve been meet­ing new peo­ple (not easy for me) at the gym, and I’ve been smil­ing more and hold­ing my head higher and putting myself out there in the world. I’m try­ing to change me! Expe­ri­ence more! Appre­ci­ate more! Love more! Laugh more!

    Natalia Burlesons last blog post..Tis the Season.….

  44. Dave Fowler says:

    Lance, this is great because I feel like some day soon I’m going to be that eagle in your pic­ture. After men­tion­ing fly­ing to you before I haven’t been able to stop think­ing about it… and now the eagle…

    I feel very uncom­fort­able at the moment but I’m going with it because I feel tan­ta­lis­ingly close to where I want to be. I just know that I’ve got to keep pushing.

    Dave Fowlers last blog post..Why I Want To Feel Hungry

  45. rarestone says:

    Lance, that’s a great post. In fact, I also did a post on the same sub­ject, titled
    The Curse of the Com­fort Zone
    . I think to con­tinue to grow we must con­tinue to reach out and not allow our­selves to set­tle in one place. There can be no growth if we are stag­nant and com­fort­able in a cer­tain zone. Growth is ongo­ing, cumu­la­tive and con­tin­u­ous. By con­tin­u­ing to explore, to reach out, we con­tinue to dis­cover new things, cross­ing hur­dles we never thought we could, and ulti­mately reach­ing new heights. That is explor­ing our full poten­tial and indeed liv­ing life to the full! Like the majes­tic bird which tow­ers beau­ti­fully in the sky, let us take on new heights and enjoy the flight!

  46. Dave Fowler says:

    Is the bird in the pic actu­ally an eagle? I’m not sure now.

  47. I think there is always a com­fort zone to get out of.

    For, if we are not grow­ing, are we truly living?

    Good reminder.

  48. Lance says:

    @Natalia — That’s awe­some, and some­thing sim­i­lar to what I went through. I had got­ten into a nest of com­fort with food and lack of exer­cise. It was hard to leave that nest, but yet, it was also one of the best things I did for myself! That you are doing that, too, is great! You’ll soar!!

    @Dave — Keep at it Dave, you’re doing great! We all have days where we fal­ter a bit. As long as we get back up, though. Get back up and fly, before we know it — we’re soar­ing — if we’ll just allow our­selves to do so. The bird — I believe it’s a hawk (but I could be mistaken).

    @Rarestone — This is beau­ti­fully said, Rare­stone! And so is your post, right on tar­get. If we do want to grown and be all that we can be, we’ve got to spread our wings and leave the nest. We’ve got to leave our com­fort zone for this to happen!

    @Bamboo For­est — Good point, we are prob­a­bly always in some sort of com­fort zone. I do think that some­times the com­fort zone can be good for us (i.e. deal­ing with tragedy, dur­ing sick­ness, etc) but many times get­ting out of the com­fort zone is what we need to reach the next level.

  49. Julie says:

    Hi, Lance: I think our nests can be quite dif­fer­ent things, depend­ing upon our cur­rent state of mind. Some­times, they’re almost jail-like in hold­ing us back and we need to just bolt out the doors. Other times, they’re safe havens for when the world’s bat­ter­ing us. Some­times, they’re nei­ther; just a place to be while things are incu­bat­ing; a tran­si­tion place, if you will. They can also be places where every­thing is in per­fect bal­ance, all flow­ing beau­ti­fully. I think it just depends on what’s been going on with our lives, inside and out.

    Julies last blog post..Some­where On The Circle

  50. My com­fort zone has def­i­nitely become too com­fort­able in terms of my per­sonal goals, though I like the com­fort zone for my fam­ily life. I find moth­er­hood takes a lot out of me, maybe because you have to be so atten­tive and switched on all the time. I am nat­u­rally a day dreamer so a 4 year old’s inces­sant ques­tions and bound­ary test­ing wears me out.

    But my per­sonal goals have lan­guished from me being too stuck in rou­tine and not want­ing to push my lim­its any­more. I think that’s okay soem­times. You need to recharge. But now I’m feel­ing rest­less, so it’s time to make a plan and push for­ward and get into that unknown ter­ri­tory a bit more.

    Great post, lance.

    Kelly

  51. Lance says:

    @Julie — I agree com­pletely Julie. Nests can be good, and nest can be bad, and some­time just be. I love how you wrote that, it really is a great way of describ­ing the “nests” of our life. The key is to rec­og­nize what kind of nest we’re in, and then act accordingly…

    @Kelly — A com­fort zone in fam­ily life can be very affirm­ing. It’s that con­stant. Some­thing we can always come back to. A com­fort zone in per­sonal goals, like you said, is a good thing to eval­u­ate. Are you there for a rea­son? Are you ready to take the jump out of the nest? Do you need a push out? Lots of things to think about (and act upon). I know you’ll do well in what­ever next flights come your way!

  52. If I am like a bird, then I seem to have crashed into a glass window…

    meleah rebec­c­ahs last blog post..Dif­fi­cult Times Call For Dras­tic Measures

  53. Lance says:

    @Meleah — Some­times we do crash, Meleah. The impor­tant thing is that you get back up. Maybe it means going back to rest at the “nest” a lit­tle longer. Maybe it means try­ing to fly again. Lis­ten to your heart…

  54. Robin says:

    What a lovely flock of birds we would be if we all really flew.

    Robins last blog post..Ice And Global Warming

  55. Lance says:

    Robin, that is a great thought. Fly­ing seems so majes­tic. What a beau­ti­ful sight it would be if we all were fly­ing! Wonderful!

  56. Jenny says:

    I would love to leave my nest and soar on those mag­nif­i­cent wings, I’m just always afraid to do it. Some­times I do it with­out know­ing it and usu­ally fly well, I just don’t always think so!

    Jen­nys last blog post..Don’t Laugh At…

  57. Lance says:

    Jenny, fear is a big thing for all of us. I have it often. And it can be hard to leave the nest of com­fort and famil­iar­ity. Writ­ing, here, some­times feels like that. Because I don’t know what the reac­tion will be. Just like you, I’m unsure of what the result will be. But it is great to soar isn’t it! You can!

  58. I have got­ten to com­fort­able job wise. I am unem­ployed right now and need to get out there and try new things! I am so afraid of get­ting rejected or turned down that I find myself sit­ting at home all day. Meh, life is a scary place, but what is the worst that could hap­pen. I get rejected… I move on to some­thing else. No big deal.

    - Jack Rugile
    Sim­ple Sapien

    Sim­ple Sapien´s last blog post..What’s Your Best Effort?

  59. Lance says:

    Sim­ple Sapien — Rejec­tion is some­thing many fear (I do). But then, so what if we get rejected — move on and try some­thing else. You’ll get there Jack. Life has many great things in store for you — go out and soar!

  60. I believe that our com­fort zone is meant to be just a rest­ing place in between Life’s adven­tures. It is a base of oper­a­tion that we go out from and come back to when we need to rest. It isn’t meant to become our rut that we never leave. A friend taught me this lesson.

    Patri­cia — Spir­i­tual Jour­ney Of A Lightworker´s last blog post..Kindness—Why Is It Eas­ier To Be Kind To Strangers?

  61. Dayflyer says:

    We spread our wings just over a year ago, giv­ing up secure jobs and a famil­iar life in the UK to move to Greece. A new coun­try, a lan­guage we are try­ing to learn, no paid employ­ment — big change all round. In fact the biggest change since leav­ing home for uni­ver­sity over 30 years ago.

    13 months on and we’re sur­viv­ing and thriv­ing. Things are com­ing together slowly, there are set­backs as well as surges for­ward, but we don’t regret a minute. If we hadn’t done it, we would def­i­nitely be regret­ting things.

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  1. […] have been many times when Lance has offered me a help­ing hand and his posts always inspire me to spread my wings and fly. So if you ever feel lost in this great big world, be sure to stop by the Jun­gle of […]

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