Beyond the comfort zone.
I have always struggled with the act of taking pictures. I mean don’t get me wrong, I think pictures are a beautiful way to keep memories alive. But for me, I just don’t like taking them. Someone once told me it’s as a result of insecurity but I beg to differ. I just do not like how I have to compose myself and look a certain way only for me not to like the picture at the end of the day. Infact it’s so bad that my eldest sister told me she really doesn’t know how she would showcase a collection of my pictures on my wedding day as she has no pictures for it.
I recently went out with my 2 of my amazing friends, We had planned this outing for ages and I’m grateful to God that it fell through. I decided to dress my best for this outing as I knew I won’t be doing this again as I’m not one to go out. Leaving the comfort of my home stresses me out. Anyways, when we got to our destination, the aesthetics really made me feel great. It was such a pleasant feeling. My friends decided to take pictures of me and I remember saying, "you know I don’t like taking pictures? I don’t even know how to pose "and my friend just told me to pose away. She said "just do anything" and I did! I decided to pose anyhow and do whatever came to my mind even when I ran out of poses. When she was done taking my pictures and she showed them to me, I was amazed. This was literally the first time in my life since I can remember that a picture was taken of me and I was taken aback by it. I mean who is this beaut I was looking at?! The pictures were so good and I actually did send them to my sisters and the response was amazing! I would be lying if I said the thought of taking pictures more often didn’t cross my mind. But, I know I won’t be doing this again. It was nice to get out and do something I usually wouldn’t do.
What am I driving at? Well, all I’m trying to say is that sometimes, it’s ok to leave your comfort zone and explore. Explore and do new things to develop yourself and your confidence. You can’t say you don’t like something if you’ve never tried it. Life is all about exploring, evolving, learning, unlearning and re-learing. You can’t learn and understand yourself if you choose to be boxed up your whole life. You can’t evolve and grow if you choose to remain fixed in a particular place and if you do not leave your comfort zone.
You need to understand that leaving your comfort zone will not kill you. It will only kill the YOU in YOU that does not want your growth.