what is your comfort zone?

Christmas.
It's this time of the year we celebrate tradition. And whether for you it's a spiritual time, or the only time when you get to see all the members of your family gather, or you're actually religious (pardon my actually, but nowadays the tendence is dropping, isn't it?), or maybe you're just insane and like christmas shopping... whatever the reason, for most of us Christmas is a somehow special time of the year.
It's something we've learnt for years and we're being constantly reminded about as soon as Halloween decorations are put in the sale.

And this Christmas I asked myself.
Why do I like Christmas?

And the answers that I came up with could be summarized in just one sentence:
Because I know Christmas.

And it better be the Christmas I know! ...because otherwise it makes me feel like it doesn't count.

So there has to be a barszcz, and pierogi, and łamańce and we have to make it all by ourselves, and we also bake the famous gingerbread cookies (whoever sees me around Christmas knows from experience;]). We make hundreds of them (not that we can eat all of it) and it's a lot of work, but we do it together. And we talk and take pictures and just have fun while making them.
But it would definitely not be as much fun, had we done it more than once a year for Christmas.
This year my mum experimented a little bit and there were also new dishes on the table. And you know what? I didn't even feel like trying. Faced with the choice of what is known to me and what I have been waiting for the whole year and merely "something new", I didn't even feel like trying.

This got me thinking.
Why is it?
I'm assuming that on a normal day (and by that I mean any other day but Christmas) I wouldn't mind trying a fish made in a, what is believed to be, Japanese style (whether or not it really is, I would have to ask Yoko;]).

We like being comfortable, don't we?
And whether it's traditional Christmas Eve food, way of living or even relationships, it's nice to know what to expect. It's nice to have an image of what can happen, at the very least.

Do I fear unknown?, I ask myself. And I'm afraid the answer is, as for a lot of people, yes.
And although to some it may seem like I don't, mostly because I follow my dreams no matter where I am geographically (and I counted it: I've lived in 8 cities in 5 countries over the last 4 years.)... there's a method in this madness. I know how to start things all over in a new place. I've learnt it and this is my comfort zone.

...
I read somewhere that "thinking outside of the box" is one of the most over- and mis-used expressions of the busy(professional) Western life, because we no longer take our time to define what that box really is. And it's defining what's stopping you that can help you overcome the barrier you've came across.

And isn't just sitting in our comfort zones stopping us from developing? From learning? And eventually - from making progress? Isn't there something better waiting for us outside of what we know to be comfortable?

What is your comfort zone?

With many post-Christmas hugs,
Kat

I would like to share: bits and pieces of my Christmas tradiotions! From upper left: making gingerbread cookies,  pierogi, Christmas tree, decorated cookies... well - like half of them ;)

And hello from my cat too ;) He seems to be comfortable ALL the time ... ;)