♪ Intro Music ♪
Hello there ...
Comfort can be a beautiful thing.
Most all of us have had a taste of that moment
where we're in a state of ease, and freedom
from pain and constraint.
But, comfort has a shadow-side ...
The shadow side is - we can become addicted to it.
Why do I use the word 'addiction' in association with comfort?
Because we can use comfort to cover-over something we are trying to avoid.
We develop a dependence on it to the point that if it's taken away we have extreme reactions,
as if we were in withdrawal.
We limit ourselves in our lives while inside our comfort zone
and yet, we continue to stay in it even when we know it's harming us.
This is in fact the criteria for an addiction.
As people, especially the older we get,
we spend more and more of our time
justifying where we are
and justifying the things that we're doing.
We spend more time in our comfort zone.
Our 'justification' becomes like the jail bars
that are keeping us inside of this prison ... of Limitation.
Now I want you to think about going to prison ...
If you didn't have the associations that you had with prison,
and if there weren't any scary convicts in the next cell,
what you'd find is that jail would be ... pretty comfortable ...
Why? Because it's predictable.
You know who's coming and who's going, in fact very few people that you don't already know
are gonna be coming and going.
You'll be fed regularly ... you'll have a schedule ...
Essentially, this prison would protect you from uncertainty and risk.
This is what life is like inside your comfort zone.
But it's not self-loving to stay there because no matter how comfortable it feels, it's still a prison.
It keeps you from your true desires, which require risk, and it keeps you from your true self which requires change.
Most people on Earth live their lives in this kind of prison to one degree or another.
Some of these prisons are more innately luxurious than others
but they are prisons all the same.
We must learn to recognize these jail bars.
We have to essentially see the justifications that we're using in our life
for why we can't do the things we feel inspired to do, or know we *have* to do.
One thing we have to recognize is the fact that the minute that we justify something
or we use really good reasons to back something up,
we are more committed at that moment to being *right* about where we are ...
what we're doing ...
or what we have done ...
than we are committed to things like Love and Happiness.
We use our justifications, and reasons,
to deny ourselves Expansion
and so we have to decide
if it is more important to be right
or more important to feel joy.
For example, I could feel compelled to paint
but the justifications that I could use to keep myself from acting on that inspiration
are things like this:
- "I don't know how ..."
- "It would cost money to get paints ..."
- "I was never an artist-type ..."
- "I wouldn't know what to draw ..."
- "I don't have enough time ..."
- "In fact I'm just too busy to have gotten around to it ..."
These justifications seem very reasonable to *me*,
but to all of you who are listening to those justifications
you're starting to feel yourselves deflate - why?
Because you know it's a prison!
Take a look at your life ...
What areas of your life are you the most unhappy about?
The minute that you notice what is unwanted
you have actually, at that moment,
already given birth to the idea of what is 'preferred'.
This may be on a subconscious level, but the point is,
you know what it is that you want.
So the question then remains - why haven't you taken action
in the direction of what you want?
What justifications are you using
to keep yourself from moving forward
and getting out of your comfort zone?
Take a look at all those justifications and either question them one-by-one -
finding thoughts that contradict them enough that you can let them go,
or simply see them for the prison bars that they are
and walk right through them.
If you think you need a fresh perspective -
then let yourself go get it ...
Offer up those resilient justifications
and watch them be slaughtered before your eyes
by people who have a brand-new perspective
about those justifications.
Just make sure you that you don't pick anybody
who is just as imprisoned as you are in their own comfort zone.
Why?
Because they're gonna use *you* as a justification
for themselves staying inside their own comfort zone.
«giggles»
Beware the trap of Preparation.
Preparation is as good as it does - I don't need to explain the obvious merit in preparation
but preparation can be yet another reason you give yourself
to stay inside your comfort-zone prison.
One day you will reach the point where you realize you can't plan anymore,
and that planning itself is keeping you from living today
and I'll tell you a secret ...
- the most fulfilling experiences in life, the real 'stuff' of life,
you will *never* be fully prepared for or ready for no matter how much you *do* prepare.
Admit that you're scared - name your fear.
Guess what?
We're all scared - we're just too scared to tell each other that we're scared!
So the point is not to fight your fear or deny your fear - the point is to scoop your fear up in your arms,
kind of like the crying child that it is,
and to move forward *with* your fear,
not let it inhibit you completely ...
Pain and fear are a call to become more present, conscious and aware -
not necessarily an indication that something has gone wrong.
Let's get this one out of the way quick:
You are not going to get it all right - it's impossible to get it all right.
Now those of you who are perfectionists, you're in good company
at being completely terrified at what I just said.
But when you think about it,
it is a kind of liberation as well ...
If you're not ever gonna be able to get *everything* right,
(I mean if it's *literally* not possible - because the game is rigged -
because you don't have all the information you need to play the game perfectly)
then what is there that's left to do?
To give up on the pressure you're putting on yourself
and to simply choose what you think is the most right for yourself in any given moment,
knowing that you could be right or you could be wrong -
but you did the best with what you had, from where you were, and that's enough ...
People don't want to be vulnerable for obvious reasons.
The problem is - 'vulnerable' is what we *are* ...
Why are we vulnerable?
Because Life involves the possibility of uncertainty, of risk, and of potential hurt.
But the people on this planet who live the most fulfilling lives
will tell you that they'll take those risks - why?
Because there is a certain beauty in vulnerability
and that's the things like Happiness and Love and Joy -
and your realization of your dreams,
are *also* a by-product of vulnerability.
It must be said that nothing
makes us feel more vulnerable when it comes to getting outside our comfort zones
than uncertainty.
For this reason I want you to watch my video on YouTube titled: "How to deal with Uncertainty".
If you wanna start getting outside your comfort zone
a good way to start is to start with little things.
What do I mean by a 'little-thing'?
- Take a different route to work ...
- Learn something new ...
- Eat something different for breakfast ...
- Or, take someone up on an offer you'd usually refuse.
A good technique that you can use, as a tool,
until you learn to fully embody
your unique expression of Source Consciousness (in its full confidence within the world)
is to pick a role-model
and then to model your behavior after that role-model.
Make sure that you pick somebody who you see as confident
and free of limitations ...
It could be someone alive or deceased,
someone real or make-believe,
a famous historical figure perhaps ...
Ask yourself what *they* would do and model your behavior according to that.
For example, let's say your role model is Albert Einstein.
If you're faced with a scary decision or stuck in the prison of your justifications
just ask yourself: "What would Einstein do?"
and then, do that!
If it were up to me you'd be living your entire life, day-by-day, completely free of justifications -
but for the sake of this week and this Practice,
I want you to pick one thing this week that you know you've been wanting to do
but that you've been kept-from, as a result of your justifications -
and *do it* this week.
We so often live our lives as if there'll always be more to live.
We put things off until tomorrow ... and then tomorrow ... and then tomorrow ...
to avoid the discomfort of facing them.
But, what if there is no tomorrow?
What is the point of the lives we are living today if tomorrow never comes?
So many people live their lives sensibly only to arrive at death, carefully.
This, is a waste of life ...
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,
but you're going to die one day ...
And you never know when ...
So, what does this leave us with?
It leaves us with the fact that we need to break down the jail bars
that are keeping us inside our comfort zone
because you did not come here to live a 'careful' life.
And some part of you,
deep inside, absolutely knows that.
So break down those jail bars and pull down the justifications
and go in the direction that your heart has been calling you.
And I will promise you
that all the bumps and bruises you could possibly accrue along your path
will *all* be completely worth it.
Have a good week ...
♪ Outtro Music ♪
Subtitles by the Amara.org community