Linda Goodnight here. I’m not a beach bunny. I don’t like heat or sun or big bodies of water. Or sticky sand against my skin. But for the past two summers I’ve stepped out my comfort zone to vacation in the Florida sun with my adult children and loved every minute. Busy with their own lives throughout this year, this was our chance to reconnect, laugh and talk together, experience new things. I even learned to snorkel, a real accomplishment since I’m claustrophobic about having water over my head. From this I took a valuable life lesson. It’s not about the where or the what. It’s about the who. Being with those you care about makes any place enjoyable.
If you read my books, you know I write about family, and I love to push my characters out of their comfort zones. My current release,
THE MEMORY HOUSE is also about families. Broken ones, damaged ones, old and new ones. And, of course, the lead characters are pushed out of their comfortable hiding places to places of decision.
What about you? When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone? Was it a good or bad experience? What one thing would you LIKE to do that's outside your comfort zone?
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My step out was this spring when I left the job I've had since I finished college (more than 30 years) to be a full-time author. It's still scary.
ReplyDeleteI love family stories. Looking forward to THE MEMORY HOUSE.
Linda, I have to smile. I turned down scuba diving this summer but will go snorkeling. I think I could do the para-sailing.
ReplyDeleteI love the beach and ocean. I miss not living near one. I grew up in a coastal city. I love to snorkel but only in calm water. I did in Hawaii and was tossed about by large waves.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the beach, though I do prefer it on cloudy/rainy days. I'm just weird that way.
ReplyDeleteI grew up 5 minutes from the beach, but each summer my parents would pack us up to head to the lake. I still don't understand that!
I'm impressed with your bravery in trying snorkeling.
Funny you should be blogging about stepping outside your comfort zone. I was just talking about this with my sister this morning. I told her I try to step outside my comfort zone but there are some things that are outside my "anxiety zone" and those take more prayer and emotional strength.
I found THE MEMORY HOUSE sitting on my desk under my research papers on Sunday. Now it's next up in my TBR pile.
Jean, good for you for stepping out to be a full time author. It was scary for me when I did it, too, but I haven't regretted it.
ReplyDeletePamela, I'm not ready for scuba diving either! I think having THAT much water over my head would freak me completely out and I'd drowned myself. My daughter and granddaughter went para-sailing and LOVED it--nutty girls ever took photos from up there. I told them if they would have dropped their phones, it would have been goodbye forever!
ReplyDeleteMargaret and Mary, I think you have the key to loving the beach. If you grow up on the water, it's not intimidating and you know all the great things about it so the heat and sand in your underwear doesn't bother you! I did love walking on the beach after dark with a flashlight to look at the tiny white crabs scurrying about. The ocean sounds are SO relaxing at night and in the early morning. I'll never forget that.
ReplyDeleteMary, I hear you about stepping out of our anxiety zone. That would be scuba diving for me!!
Fun memories! I stepped outside my comfort zone to parasail with my hubbie, but I first grilled the captain and instructed him on what he could and could not do thanks to my bad back. Turned out I loved it and hubbie? He was holding on so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Apparently the knots connecting our chute to the cable were strained and less than perfect. Being a sailor who has taught knot-tying, hubbie got concerned. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I'm grateful he pushes me outside my comfort zone, though, for it teaches me to rely on the Lord.
ReplyDeleteI think I step out of my comfort zone every time I leave the house. I live near the beach now, but I don't like being out in big water. But I make up for that, one step at at time. We have a long public pier here and I love going out on it because I'm over the water and I can see all of the sea life below. Sending out my first book was definitely stepping out in faith. I tend to take on a task to force me outside my comfort zone. Sometimes it works, other times not so much.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Linda. And beautiful cover!
Christine, that's funny! Your poor husband probably spent all his time wondering how he would save you if the knots slipped!
ReplyDeleteLenora, you've made me feel less silly about being intimidated by big, big water. I did love the early morning walks when only the gulls and I were around and watching the silvery moon on the water at night. It's truly a gorgeous creation.
ReplyDeleteIf I think about it, I guess we do step out of our comfort zones every time we try something new--now writing a different kind of book!