Imagine a life where not a single person dares to step outside of their comfort zone. Would that life be exciting, or would it consist of everyone’s eyes glued to their phone? It’s a question worth asking. If it weren’t for courageous choices, a man most likely would not have stepped foot on the moon.
“It is in the nature of human beings that we face challenges,” astronaut Neal Armstrong said. “It is in the nature of his deep and inner soul…we are required to do things just as salmon swim upstream.”
Teens easily get trapped into a routine of waking up, scrolling on their phones, going to school, coming home, and ending their day scrolling.
According to Pew Research Center, “The biggest chunk of teens’ daily leisure time is spent on screens: 3 hours and 4 minutes on average.”
Exploring life and creating personal development doesn’t happen behind a screen, pushing limits outside of your comfort zone and doing activities that aren’t normal does.
Sophomore Haylee Snow chose to take an extra step by traveling on an airplane to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which had been a fear her entire life. Choosing to board that plane began to open many doors of new experiences she wouldn’t have been able to gain otherwise.
Snow loved how close she was to the beach every day and just could lay in the sun each day. One of her favorite nights on vacation was when she went to a Waterfront Restaurant called Boatyard with her best friend.
“The fact that a local has that lifestyle is something I envy now,” Snow said. “I’ve always seen their lifestyle on social media but actually getting to see it was so different.”
Snow makes a key point. Teens stare at their phones, admiring what their favorite influencer is doing but not taking a single step in that path. Every choice has a level of fear, and Snow lets her optimism take over her fear leaving her with a life-changing experience.
Similarly from personal experience, when I founded my own photography business, I almost let the fear of rejection control me. Without stepping outside of my own comfort zone I wouldn’t have achieved my goal of booking a wedding. Now, I have done more than just a wedding: senior sessions, engagements, and even elopements. Whether photography is something that I want to pursue in life or not, I will always have the knowledge of what it took and apply that to other aspects of my life.
My readers should not be confused. I do believe that technology and my simple phone are educational and useful. Without my phone, I wouldn’t have been able to learn the settings on my camera how to pose a couple together, or even build my website. The point where it crosses the line is when we, as teens, scroll through TikTok and Instagram just to pass the time.
Instead, we should go for a walk to boost our physical health or maybe go “Hitchhike Across China to See How Far You’d Go.”
Seek Discomfort is a brand originating from a YouTube Channel called Yes Theory; four guys from four different countries pursue experiences like hitchhiking across China and Skydiving Over the Great Pyramid of Piza to live in life’s greatest moments and deepest connections.
“Courage isn’t kicking fear out of the car,” Seek Discomfort said. “It’s acknowledging fear’s presence and sending it anyway. (Within reason, of course).”
When the guys created their project, they had a fear of disappointment and embarrassment. They procrastinated before actually pursuing the project. They started out living in a small apartment where they had to share beds but decided to take action to create and pursue their YouTube channel.
To this day, the brand has expanded with the mission of being the most impactful YouTube Channel out there by inspiring others to live out their dreams by getting outside of their comfort zone.
As teens, we need to be able to have the ability to see through the challenges that are faced to create what it is we want on the other side. In some cases, that is stepping on the moon, or in others, stepping on a plane. With action and steps beyond a phone in hand, comes progress and experience.
