comfort zone – Almost An Author

Don’t Get Comfortable

My first week home from the rehab hospital, I suffered a seizure. It took days before I could feel the left side of my body. I was terrified. I was afraid all the hard work I had put in was lost and I would have to start all over again.

Turns out it wasn’t a medical issue, but a lifestyle one. In the hospital, I was given a strict diet, mainly drank water, and exercised regularly. At home, I ate whatever I wanted, and drank caffeinated sodas, and exercise was the farthest thing from my mind.

I had become comfortable after my recovery and I let my guard down. When I had a follow-up with my neurologist, the instructions were obvious:

Be more nutrition-conscious and drink more water, less caffeine.
Exercise regularly to keep my muscles stimulated.
Get plenty of rest.

A month after my seizure I began biking. It became an important part of my training to strengthen my left side. Later I joined a local gym and started strength training. Fortunately, the main fitness trainer had experience working with persons with disabilities and he was able to coach me on my journey.

It was then I learned the importance of switching up my workouts. From time to time we need to use different fitness routine to keep our bodies from getting comfortable and plateauing. This keeps the muscles confused which allows them to grow. Medical science has shown that it takes about 6 to 8 weeks to create a routine and 2 to 4 weeks to create muscle memory.

I have three eight-week exercise cycles and halfway through I reverse the weight process. When I tell you it shocks my body, I mean my body is sore and uncomfortable for weeks; which is what I want, because I tend to get bored when I get comfortable in my exercises.

Comfortable?

Being comfortable something we desire in most situations. The dictionary tells us being comfortable provides relaxation and puts us at ease. It’s a goal most of us want to achieve.

Most writers (me included) have certain goals in their writing career they are striving for: fame, fortune, a better lifestyle, or making a mark on this world. I’m sure there are other goals I could mention. Take the time to think about what motivates you to keep writing.

We spend hours at our computers or researching in libraries and sacrifice time with our family and loved ones. It’s human nature to want to get to the top.

A decade ago I had a chance to go to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado, over 14,000 feet above sea level. While the views were spectacular, I learned an important lesson.

Nothing grows on the mountaintop, no trees, grass, and certainly not flowers. That’s when I realized being on top might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

It reaffirms that often the journey is more beneficial than the destination. This is why writing coaches and professionals advise us to keep writing. Not necessarily to get our big break, but to keep growing our writing muscles and voices.

As we flex our writing muscles to create stories and articles we work more than just our hands and fingers, we flex the most powerful body part—our brains! Like strength training, training in the craft of writing requires consistent use of those muscles. It requires getting out of our comfort zones.

We can’t become lazy and apathetic just because we’ve reached our writing goals. I am reminded what Christian author Jerry Jenkins said, “In any writer. I look for the –ilities: humility, teachability, coachability, availability, and flexibility.”¹

We must keep growing as a writer, which means we can’t become comfortable:

1. Keep learning the craft.

2. Keep reading.

3. Attend conferences and workshops.

4. Find a mentor or guide in the business.

5. Keep being creative.

6. And most importantly, keep writing.

If I don’t continue to exercise, my muscles can atrophy. Lack of use and growth can cause muscle tissue to deteriorate and waste away.

In the same way, how tragic would it be for writers to spend years seeking publication only to let their skills, passion, and creativity waste away?

Stay Rested!

I am not endorsing never taking a break or resting. Rest is integral to muscle growth, this is when the muscle rebuilds itself. Rest helps refresh us. Rest means different things to different people:

Sleep.
Not working.
Reading.
Absence of responsibility.

I can be on a bike ride 40 miles out and feel rested. My goal is to keep growing, not get comfortable!

¹ Jenkins, J,B 2006 (Writing For the Soul) Writers Digest Books, Pge 105.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

Survival Tips for the Waiting Part of Writing Tip #8 – Leave Your Comfort Zone

The life of an introvert is whelming—not over, not under—just whelming. And that’s how I like it. When my well-planned days lead to drama-free nights, I thrive.

I first met Charlotte at a writer’s retreat. Her boisterous, Southern charm tripped my extrovert alert system the instant the hey y’all shrilled through her bright pink lipstick. Of course, I heeded the internal warning, veered away from her, and steered myself into a sea of reserved writers more commonly found in that habitat.

No, I’m not a snob and definitely not an unfriendly person. But a dark season of life had brought me to that conference weary and wary. The only thing worse than wrestling with mom-guilt over the troubles of an adult child, is having to endure the giddiness of someone who that kind of grief has never touched. So my official conference plan for rejuvenation and self-preservation involved dodging Charlotte, attending classes, and enjoying alone time with God.

The strategy worked until the final morning of the retreat. Even though my burden remained heavy, I was able to sit at cafeteria breakfast table and reflect on God’s goodness; the deepest valleys so often provide the sweetest refuge in Him. With my mind fixed on things above, my internal alert system must have malfunctioned, because when I emerged from my thoughts there she stood, wearing a bright fuchsia blouse and dazzling smile. Before I could say a word, Charlotte introduced herself, sat down, and plunged into an animated description of her ministry and writing.

I listened with polite interest, hoping the firecracker of a woman wouldn’t spontaneously combust before my eyes. But when she launched into the description of her book, the first sentence captured my attention and held it hostage. And every word that followed pierced my heart. I had been so wrong in my assumption that Charlotte had been untouched by grief. She had. Her son had been wrongly accused of a heinous crime and sent to prison. But God had shown her how to pray—how to fight for him in a way that was powerful and effective. That’s where her joy had come from, and she was shouting it from the rooftops—and the breakfast table. I left the dining area changed by her story—somehow healed by it.

Later that day, Charlotte offered to drive me to the airport. I was tempted to decline, but something in me needed more of the life flowing through her. I accepted … before I realized she intended to shove me and my two-ton suitcase into in her fiery red convertible for the drive. If a human could ever have an automobile twin, there would be no doubt Charlotte and the hot-rod came from the same womb. I took one look at the vehicle and asked a logical question, “Where will we put my luggage?”

Charlotte never answered the question, but her laughter echoed through the parking lot as she popped a small hatch located behind the two miniature seats. She then chucked my enormous suitcase into the tiny opening where it wedged tightly to all four sides and stood tall against the opened lid.

Warning sirens blared in my head, demanding that I ask Charlotte several other questions, “If we can’t close the trunk, what will keep my luggage from flying out while we drive? How will you be able to see through the back window? And what if it rains?”

Charlotte provided jovial answers. “I drive with my trunk open all the time, nothing’s ever fallen out.” “My side-mirrors work just fine.” and “A little rain never hurt nobody.”

With all questions asked and answered, I did the only thing any polite, shell-shocked recluse could do; I folded myself into the bucket seat of Charlotte’s red sportster, and silently vowed to never again ridicule those poor Lifetime movie characters who make irrational decisions that led to their demise.

We pulled onto the winding country road with car top down and trunk lid open. My neatly arranged hair whipped in the wind and wrapped around my face for over an hour. And it rained. But while Charlotte talked a million miles a minute and drove almost as fast, another voice broke through. I never realized God could speak with a Southern accent; Charlotte’s every word provided real answers to my most agonized prayers, and as a bonus— her infectious joy lifted my heavy heart. I felt so refreshed I didn’t even care that I looked like a deranged vagrant when we arrived at the airport.

Charlotte is now one of my favorite people in the world. She’s a precious woman, full of life and God’s Spirit. Just the thought of her makes me happy. It scares me to think how much I would have missed had I chosen a safe route home. The common ground that bridged the gap between elusive introvert and excitable extrovert became my road to hope.

My tip for this month is to step out of your comfort zone. Allow God to use His people—all kinds—to help mold your faith and your writing career into what He has destined it to be.

Scripture: Hebrews 13:2, Ephesians 4:16, John 17:21

Fun Fact: If you’d like to learn more about dear Charlotte and her amazing testimony check out her newly released book, Live In The Victory: God’s Victorious Battle Plans for Parents of Prodigals. Her picture is on the front and back cover of the book if you’d like to sneak a peek. You can find her book on Amazon here.

Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.