It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.
-Seneca
Most challenges you face are not inherent to the writing process itself, but stem from your fear; fear of taking risks; fear of trying new things; fear of failure; failure of [fill in the blank].
When you hesitate, your fear prevents you from taking the step that leads to your next breakthrough. Your fear keeps you imprisoned in your comfort zone, that despicable place where all your dreams (and mine) go to die.
Do the thing that terrifies you.
Take one step outside of your comfort zone and look around.
With that single step, the landscaped of your life changed, if only a little.
Take another step, and another.
With every step, you realize the safety you thought you required to survive was really a mind fog that muted every color of the rainbow. Share on XOut here, in this land of discomfort, the greens are more vivid than you’ve ever seen. The reds dazzle your senses. The yellows ignite your heart with joy and you finally understand what it really means to be alive.
And you only took three steps. Imagine the transformation you’ll experience when you run 100 yards or a mile into this brave new world of your mind!
But you feel overwhelmed, so you take a step back toward your safety nest. The colors dull a little. Another step, and another, until your landscape is that familiar yet lifeless palette you call “normal.”
Only there is nothing normal about those colors. Nothing at all.
But now you know.
You’ve experienced the amazing world that only exists outside your comfort zone and you know…
You know you can’t stay inside this self-made prison a moment longer.
Take your next step.
