Our World Is Ending- So Act Now. The Sheer Power of Leaving Your Comfort Zone.
Our world is ending. How the hell are we going to survive?
No, really think about it.
How are we going to survive?
If I ask Bing that question, I get about 291,000,000 responses.
As you can see, there’s everything from surviving day-to-day life. To surviving an apocalypse (according to science of course).
But is the answer really that complicated? Or are we being a little, just a little, overdramatic?
The uncomfortable truth is that we are in year 12 (If you’re not then good for you — totally not jealous) and our world as we know it is ending… we are on the brisk of stepping out into our futures. Writing our own stories and making hard, ‘life-changing’ choices. Leaving our comfort zones. The world is at our fingertips, but how do we experience all that life has to offer?
In my quest to answer this question, I landed on this article about the most frequent deathbed regrets. It’s a fascinating story that uncovers what most people regret when they’re near the end of their lives. Here’s the gist of it:
I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Wow, that’s upsetting. But one powerful thing that strikes me is that this list does NOT include anyone that said: “I wish I didn’t take as many risks as I did” or “I wish I lived a more uneventful life”.
So, take a step back, and picture this,
You are 60 years old. Sitting on a couch watching Netflix. And you’re aching. You’re aching from the pain of regret. Regret has consumed all of what you could’ve been. What you could’ve seen. All those missing moments and memories that could have made your story special.
Now picture this,
You are 60 years old standing on the edge of fear. Fear that has consumed every last inch of you. The hairs raising on your skin as you take in the fresh air. You soak in the view as you take a step out. Delving into the cold air, a smile plastered on your face, indicates that skydiving at 60 years old, wasn’t actually a bad idea. And for the first time in your life, you realize that you are truly alive. Away from the safe comfort of home, realizing that you’re not just surviving but actually living.
What if I were to tell you, that this uncomfortable event was a catalyst. Since you purposely chose the path of discomfort. You earned yourself a little badge of achievement and confidence. The ability to say, I wanted to make it happen. So I did. The ability to say, I’ve been skydiving before, I’ve faced my fears and now what the hell can’t I do?
Now who do you think had the most interesting story? Who do you think took a step out of their comfort zone in order to actually live? And which story would you rather have?
And that my friends is the power of discomfort. Life–changing discomfort.
There’s a great author by the name of Nassim Talab and he says, ‘No amount of wealth in the world can buy water after intense thirst.’ And as human beings, we are thirsty. We are thirsty for risk-taking, for adventure, exploration, and experimentation. It’s how we evolved.
One big part of that is by saying YES.
On that note, let me introduce you guys to the YES theory.
The YES theory reveals that we are natural-born discomfort seekers. So that feeling you get when your public speaking. Your heart skips a beat, and your hands start to shake riddled with anxiety. Yep…that feeling Let me tell you, it’s natural. And it’s so pure that when it’s over, the number one thing you describe it as is being human, because that’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s how we evolve — By doing the things that scare us.
So what does the YES theory mean. Does it mean we have to say yes to everything?
Do you have to quit your job, drop out of school, and travel the world?
Some of you might do that and that’s fine, trust me with all these assessments coming in lately it’s tempting… It’s seriously tempting.
But you don’t have to do that to live the YES theory. Living the YES theory means consciously making the time to do things you’ve never done before. That may be talking to a random stranger and saying hi or packing a tent in the back of a car with a few friends, start driving south and just figuring it out. By living on the edge, you find out what you can actually achieve.
And this brings me back to my first question, how the hell are we actually going to survive?
The truth is we are in grade 12 (well at least some of us) and our world, our comfort zone as we know it, is ending. But our stories are just starting. And when we reach the end of those stories, we want to have memories that we can be proud of.
Don’t wait till you’re 60 to start living, do it right now. To live, we need to embrace the power of discomfort. To move to the next stage of our life, we must do things that scare us.
So — to answer my question, how are we going to survive? That is the answer — by seeking discomfort you’ll never feel more alive.
Please comment your thoughts. All the best:)
