With the new year upon us, it’s easy to think of resolutions and ways to make our lives more joyful and fulfilling. When looking at those desires and plans, you might find that a lot of them require you to be more adventurous or take more risks – whether you’re inherently spontaneous or not. Those of us with cautious personalities may not be have skydiving on our bucket lists, but that doesn’t mean we won’t push ourselves each year to be better women, moms and friends. This got me thinking about comfort zones – how often we say we want to push through them, but how easy it is to stay put. Though it can be anxiety inducing, sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way to achieve a goal or reach new heights. This is a hard lesson to learn, and one that you’ll likely learn over and over again. It’s 100% reasonable to think, why commit to something where the outcome is unknown when it’s much safer here, in my comfort zone? That’s one way of going about it, and it certainly protects you from potential harm. But have you ever heard that saying, “If you want something you’ve never had, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done”? … Often the things we really want in life are things we’ve never tried – traveling to far away places, navigating motherhood, making a career change or following your passions – all of these require a bit of wading into the unknown. Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way to test the waters. I can’t say it won’t be uncomfortable – it can be downright scary! – but once you get over that hurdle, you’ll either get what you needed, or be on the right track to finding it. It’s tempting to stay where it’s familiar, but no one ever got anywhere by staying in one place. It’s difficult to know whether taking a risk will pay off. Sometimes you have that gut feeling; sometimes the messages are unclear. However, if the risk can lead to something more positive or provide an invaluable experience… I think you’ll find it hard not to at least try! What does stepping out of your comfort zone mean to YOU? I want to know. Photo: Katee Grace Photography via our family photo shoot Xx, Tamera