Okay so today I received some good news that kind of scares the crap out of me. I am interviewing for an out of state job, in an area I've never considered living, not anywhere near any family or anything familiar to me, in a stressful "executive" position and making over twice the money I make now. My wife and I are also talking about selling our house and buying a new one, I just sold my 2nd love, my motorcycle to pay for house repairs to get everything to market spec and to top all of this madness off, my wife has just bought yet another cat, I've just started music lessons, I still have a very demanding job and oh, yeah, I'm working full time on my MBA. There are so many transitions happening in my life so quickly that I'm starting to get a little freaky. So in order to steel my nerves a bit I've done a little self introspection and maybe my thought process or rationalization will help those who like me, fear change.
I shouldn't fear change because of change itself but at times I do. I really am one of those comfort blanket kind of people. I like being comfortable. I wear old T-Shirts with the graphics worn off, I eat at the same restaurants because I know what I want before I get there and I drive the same crappy beat up truck everyday for years on end, way after people tell me I should get a new one. Needless to say I am not a change freak; I like reliability, predictability and comfort. That being said, I understand the fear of stepping out of one's comfort zone and I'm here to tell myself and the rest of you, the fear is unfounded. Life is about change, learning and trying new things and as I go along I am figuring more of this out.
Recently I was faced with an irrational discomfort that had I followed my bias and instincts, would have robbed me of a very rewarding experience. I showed up to take my first guitar lesson and my instructor turned out to be this 16 year old high school kid with parents, a curfew and everything else being 16 years old entails. This was my TEACHER! I admit, I thought "ah crap, I got ripped off" and maybe I did, time will tell. However I will say this, during our first session I learned a little about music, like how to read some of the more basic types of music. I didn't expect that, honestly because I didn't sign up to read music, only learn to play better (by ear) but once we started I was fascinated by taking those weird little symbols and turning them into music. I can't wait to learn even more but had I followed my gut I wouldn't have even been in there to learn. Heck if it were 100% up to me I wouldn't have even taken a music theory class, but here I am and loving it.
This brings me to my point, school much like life, will present you with challenges that look burdensome, things that will seem like a waste of your time on the surface. It will challenge you to learn topics you haven't considered in a way you may not be familiar with; it may pull you out of your comfort zone. The important thing to remember however is to embrace change and give things a chance, sure you may not like it, but you may also be surprised.
So I issue this challenge to my fellow comfort zone addicts, while in school resolve to yourself to give new experiences a chance. You can either do the work thinking "this is a fat waste of time" or "I'm so bored, none of this interests me" or you can actually attempt to have some fun with it and if that doesn't work, hey you haven't lost anything.
I have found that fear of change or of new things is more often than not irrational. Personally, I'm going to have fun in my new house, with my new cat, in my new hobby attending a new school while possibly working at a new job in a new state. I'll really miss that dang bike though.