This is optimal living daily episode 1278 lean into it by Casey Maine of Casey Maine.com and I'm just a molic a happy Tuesday. Welcome back to optimal living daily where I narrate blogs for you pretty simple premise and we keep the central super short for you today. So let's get right to it and start optimizing your life lean into it by Casey Maine of Casey Maine.com Several years ago. I watched the movie people like us something about it.
Just touched my heart I never understood why this movie stayed with me over the years But I think I finally figured it out it comes down to three small words in the script lean into it in the movie Sam The main character played by Hottie Chris Pine tells his nephew six rules of life given to him by his father It's an emotionally charged scene, and I remember the anticipation I felt watching it hoping the rules would be super insightful rule number one if you like something because you think other people are going to Like it. It's a sure bet that no one will rule number two most doors in the world are closed So if you find one that you want to get into you'd well better have an interesting knock rule number three Everything that you think is important isn't everything that you think is unimportant is Rule number four don't where you eat rule number five lean into it Rule number six never sleep with someone who has more problems than you at the time My socks weren't exactly blown off by these rules some I had already learned the hard way particularly number four number six Others seemed a little overdone, but number five intrigued me lean into it when his nephew asks what it means Sam responds It means that the outcome doesn't matter what matters is that you were there for it Whatever it is good or bad even after the explanation I still didn't really know what it was saying I mean, it's easy enough to understand but it didn't truly sink in until now for as long as I can remember I've been uncomfortable with change. I was a kid who sat in the same seat at the dinner table more in the car I was a girl with the same weekend bar hopping routine for several years I could eat the same thing every day for months and be fine. I still make my parents read our childhood Christmas books every Christmas Eve I love tradition.
I love routines. They are my comfort zone We all have a comfort zone and for the most part we prefer to stay within it and why wouldn't we all knowing Wikipedia describes it as a psychological State in which things feel familiar to a person and they are at ease and in control of their environment experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress Sounds comfy to me and it makes sense. Our brains are pros at pattern recognition We find the patterns physical and emotional that are familiar and safe for us and we nestle into that zone of comfort We instinctively avoid any changes to those patterns any discomfort whether it be in the form of stress anxiety pain fear shame Vulnerability disappointment, etc. Those things are all uncomfortable and therefore don't belong in our zone Think about it Even simple things like putting on a jacket or rolling over in bed or all just ways to undo discomfort and this discomfort dodging starts at a young age We experience something uncomfortable to strategize how to never feel it again Psychology calls it the development of the ego aka the sense of self It is a self that is determined to stay safe and comfortable someone last while you're giving a book report in the third grade So you avoid public speaking for the rest of your life You have bad acne as a teenager so you never leave the house without makeup as an adult or in my case You fail at love with the right kind of guy so you start looking for love and the wrong kind of guy only to have those relationships fail as well So you build a wall around your heart and stop letting people in all together super smart strategy I know but what are we really doing to ourselves by avoiding feeling uncomfortable?
Maybe discomfort in all its forms is as much a part of life as all the comforts Maybe life outside our zone of familiarity isn't all that bad and by avoiding it Maybe we are resisting the entirety of the experience leaning away from really living These thoughts have been bouncing around in my head as I sit here face-of-face with a lot of change in my life with many of my patterns being rewritten Leaving my apartment in the routines and solitude I came to know and love leaving my job and the consistent salary that came with it to pursue a dream Living my single life and attempting to let someone new into my heart with all these changes comes a major fear of the unknown Venturing outside our comfort zone is like venturing out into a foreign land and for some reason we tend to assume that land is hostile territory It's like our brains freak out when a pattern we are familiar with all of us unceases What if I can't make enough money to afford a place to live? What if everyone sees me fail? What if I get my heart broken or worse? What if I break his heart?
But if we've never been to this place outside our comfort zone, why do we assume it's hostile? It's just as possible that it's paradise It might start a new and better pattern We won't know until we get there and that's the point to be there to experience it rather than avoid it Change is a part of life whether it is change we are pursuing change We never expected or change that was always inevitable It is going to happen and so is the discomfort that comes along with it all we can really control is how we approach it I've decided to view that discomfort like a cold pool You know it is going to be uncomfortable at first But you also know you will acclimate after a while and there are two ways to approach a cold pool hesitate in slowly getting in painstakingly feeling every moment of cold dreading the next step further into it or Embrace it jumping in knowing it might be rough for a second But trusting that you will quickly adjust my opt for option to I may not know where I'm going to live next or what kind of income I'll be able to bring in writing or what will happen with a new man in my life It is all unknown to me It is all scary to me, but I choose to embrace it. I choose to explore the foreign land I choose to lean into the change lean into the discomfort lean into all of it I choose to forgo my comfort zone and jump into life You just listen to the post titled lean into it by Casey Maine of Casey Maine calm I'm constantly thinking about how to optimize my health what supplements to take hours of sleep what my diet should focus on Superpower finally takes the guessing out of it one simple lab test covers over 100 biomarkers and their app gives you a complete picture of your heart Liver hormones metabolism even environmental toxins plus it used to cost $499 right now It's just $199 and head to super power calm and use code old at checkout for an additional $20 off your membership And Casey's post was also featured on thought catalog calm They have a lot of great blog posts there and come visit Casey site She has a book podcast coming soon and a lot more but that's enough for today Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow where you're optimal life that waits