Coloring Outside the Lines

As young children most of us were taught to color inside the lines while using the correct colors. Praise was given to the children able to stay inside the lines. Growing up I was extremely shy. Lines, rules and expectations were welcomed because blending in and not bringing attention to myself was important. Fifty some years later I still prefer to color inside the lines of life. Long standing habits are hard to break, especially when comfort and a perceived sense of well being are involved. I have and will step outside the lines on a regular basis, but then I deal with anxiety. There are very few days that anxiety is not present and often it occurs unexpectedly. Most of the time it is a minor annoyance and manageable and at other times it is much more intense. Many people link fear and anxiety together because they appear to be very similar.

 Fear and anxiety often occur together but these terms are not interchangeable. Even though symptoms        typically overlap, a person's experience with these emotions differs based on their context. Fear relates to  a known or understood threat, whereas anxiety follows from an unknown or poorly defined threat.

Kung Fu incorporates a substantial amount of coloring inside the lines when it comes to learning and perfecting our basics. Although if I'm understanding correctly, we then take those basics and adapt them to color outside the lines. The lines get blurry, the waters get muddy and yet amazing things start to happen!

In class I'm the student trying to figure out where the lines are, basics or otherwise. Where do I place my feet? What are my hands doing? What comes next? How do I remember more than 2 - 3 moves? And how do I get my brain and body to work together? Stepping onto the mats exposes all my imperfections and makes it much harder to blend in. Definitely outside my comfort zone. 

You need to dare to be comfortable being uncomfortable to be truly successful. Success is not a one-time deal that you accomplish and then you are done. Success is not a destination that you reach and then you are done. It is a continuous journey and successful people understand this principle. Being uncomfortable is the idea of taking risks outside the ordinary.

To get to the next level of success, a person must continually leave their comfort zone (status quo, habits, limiting beliefs, knowledge base, skill level, etc.) and try new activities, learn new things, meet new people, take reasonable risks, and seize opportunities. They must stretch.

Your comfort zone is where you get your current results. If you want different results, new or better results, you have to get out of your zone and do something different.   BY NEAL BURGIS

 Learning to color outside the lines make take a bit of time, but the effort will be well worth it! 

Michele Ward