Running Out of my Comfort Zone
When I started running, just walking out of the front door was a stretch for me. My default mode was to stay in the house. When I was in survival mode with four young kids, staying inside was much easier than dealing with getting four sets of little shoes and socks on the kids. I needed to get out of the house a few times a week. I needed to see the sunshine. I needed to breathe fresh air and soak up some vitamin D.
The nice thing about running is that I could do it by myself. I started working out on summer mornings, so I would get out there before the kids woke up. I could get the refreshment of the cool morning without the extra challenge of bringing the kids along. It was hard learning how to run, but it was also me time and I could listen to music or an audiobook. For a mom of little ones, that personal solitude was wonderful.
While I was establishing a fragile three day a week running habit, I came across an article online about running safety. Basically, the conclusion was that women shouldn’t run alone. Ever. It sent me into a tailspin because I am an anxious person and I consider myself a rule follower about when it comes to safety. My reaction to this was to feel so angry that I couldn’t run alone near my own home. I felt like I was doing something that was so healthy for me and now I was worried I was going to get attacked and my body found weeks later in the aquaduct.
I needed to learn about running safety. I needed to deal with the idea that women can’t run alone safely. Did I want to join a running club? Did I need a running buddy? Is running alone on the aquaduct inherently unsafe? I was already doing the work to get over the resistance to leaving the house to go for a run and adding the anxiety around safety wasn’t helping.
I did the work to decide what I needed to do to keep the benefits of running (fresh air, sunshine, cardio) and reduce the risks of running alone. I talked to a runner friend about what she does for safety. I decided run with a phone and pepper spray. I tell my husband where I am going and when to expect me back. I got comfortable with the risks and I moved forward with my running life.
When you read about strategies for making life changes and reducing anxiety, one of the key strategies is to be aware of the resistance and fear and move forward through it. To make my dull grey existance into a full-color life, my comfort zone needs some expanding. If it’s not expanding, it’s shrinking. It may be that you need to try something new, ANYTHING NEW, just to expand your comfort zone and get out of your current rut of what’s possible. This can be a great strategy for working through anxiety and depression. It’s a great strategy for anyone trying live a life with a little more color. A little more thrill. A little more novelty. What are activities you can try to move out of your comfort zone? How can you mitigate risks and get the thrills and excitement of stretching your normal boundaries?
