Did you take any risks yesterday? I’m not asking if you jumped out an airplane with a parachute attached to your back (although that would count if you did), but I’m talking about those more subtle risks, those things that merely take you out of your comfort zone.  

Did you speak to the stranger waiting in front of you in line at the grocery store? When you asked a friend in passing “How ya doing?” and they responded “ahhh… OK I guess”. Did you take the time to see what was perhaps bothering them?; to find out if OK was really OK? Did you go to work yesterday driving a different route? Or did you offer to take your boss out to lunch? All of these things can be things that can take you out of your comfort zone.  

Why would you want to be out of your comfort zone? I mean after all, it’s fairly uncomfortable out of your comfort zone, and why would you want to be in that place? Because being out of your comfort zone is the best and perhaps only place big enough that will allow you to grow. Have you ever taken a goldfish out of a 2 gallon aquarium and put it into a 20 gallon aquarium or bigger? Have you ever seen how BIG that darn fish can get once it has the room to grow? The same is true for you. Think of being out of your comfort zone as being put into a bigger aquarium. The nice thing you have over a goldfish is that you may always return to your comfort zone – where as the fish pretty much has no choice as to where the owner puts it.  

Now here’s the twist at the end of the story. Have you ever flushed a goldfish down the toilet? That fish is really out of its depth now, but if you think about it, it can introduce the fish to a whole new world of possible and exciting opportunities. So next time you say, “my life is in the toilet right now”… just remember these words, and try to see the possible and exciting opportunities that very situation can bring!  

Take a risk today!

Bright blessings ~ Richard