This article is not about the amount of country borders which I have crossed. Literally I´m not aware of the exact number. Going to another country by airplane comes with the inherent feeling that I do not really experience that I have „crossed“ the border of the country which I have entered. I´m just getting dropped off at a specific place. I can only estimate in terms of the hours in flight how far I have gone. There are no borders up in the air.
That being said means that there were so many places which I have visited where I did not recognize the crossing of the country border. No further explanation required.
Which border do I mean?
This article is about crossing the inner border. The border of myself. The border which separates the comfort zone from the environment outside of the comfort zone. I have not figured out yet how to call the opposite of the comfort zone. As I define the comfort zone as an environment which provides safety for the inside going forward I will just name it the outside zone.
Why this article?
During my intense years of travels I was far away from having a comfort zone. There was simply no time left to even think about creating a comfort zone as I was changing my location almost every six months. I quickly had to adapt to a new and unknown environment again and again. This does not mean that I was feeling uncomfortable during that time. It means that I was far away from having what most people will consider as important factors which define a comfort zone.
I´m referring to a place where you can and relax entirely. Which is your „own“. A place where you can fully reload your mental batteries as there is lack of new information or unknown influences reaching that zone. No major distraction. A place which is equipped with your personal belongings including your own furniture. You enjoy that furniture because you chose it by yourself. You enjoy every piece of item, every color and every smell which is part of that place. Being part of an environment where you go to the supermarket, to the doctor and to the gas station without thinking about: Where exactly do I have to go?
Creating a comfort zone
When I was reaching the end of my intense time of relocating constantly I was recognizing that the time had come to commence creating a place as mentioned above. But after I managed that successfully something interesting happened: I started to recognize a reduction in terms of my „muscles“ which are responsible for my mental and my physical energy. I started to recognize minor things which I were annoyed of which I had not recognized before. I assume that human beings are usually motivated by the willingness of improving their situation. But the point is that once a comfort zone has been created (which can be tough effort) the need for improvement remains. So that is the time when „minor“ or „irrelevant“ topics become a priority. I recognized the climax of that development at a specific point.
Reaching the top of convenience
There are two main streets crossing directly at my front door. The traffic lights related to the passengers who intend to cross the street by foot were set in a way that it was not possible to cross the street in one go. Every time when I had just reached the middle part of the street the traffic light switched to red. I always had to stop on that small traffic island in the middle of the street. Four lanes on each side. Eight in total. Listening to the cars rushing by. Sometimes up to two minutes. It drove me crazy. Usually I took that way to go to the supermarket after work or after I had worked on my music with a deep and narrow focus. All I wanted was just silence.
I was asking myself: Why do they not simply extend the green phase of the traffic lights by around five seconds for passengers?
Every time when the traffic light switched to red the cars on the street were still standing still for a duration of around ten seconds before receiving green lights. Five seconds of extension in terms of the green phase of the traffic lights for passengers would have been enough to cross the street in one go. Why they did not amend? I was asking myself until I recognized that maybe no one has ever told them.
Complaining
The point is that I seldom complain. At least that´s my perception. So when I´m complaining I´m aware that I have to change something in order to improve the situation which I´m complaining about. The situation in terms of the traffic lights and the necessary amendment sounded so simple. That´s why I raised that issue to a local politician in order to obtain further information in terms of who needs to be informed about that issue. He mentioned that there have already been complaints by other passengers too but there is less progress on the part of the authorities.
Less progress? Extending the display duration of a green phase related to a traffic light by five seconds? How many rockets need to be built for that? He asked me to send over a short summary of the issue so that he can forward it to the respective authorities and administrative divisions. After sending over the summary I recognized myself saying: You truly have capacities left to take care for something like the switching of a traffic light. You must truly have created a deep comfort zone so that you have capacities left for taking the time to contribute in solving that specific issue.
The situation mentioned in here is an example of how I started taking care of my local community after creating a deep comfort zone. During my travels I lived in Mexico City for three months. Did I ever think about putting any effort to amend even a minor thing in terms of the traffic switching? No way. Taking care of my local community made me recognize that I´m getting stuck within my comfort zone. I was searching for problems which I can progress to solve in order to create a better environment for myself.
So?
So it seems that I have to start crossing the border again. The border which distinguishes my comfort zone from the outside zone. I assume that after all these years of intense travels I enjoyed being part of that comfort zone so much. So I got used to it. I´m forgetting about the outside zone.
Initially it was my intention to title that article as follows: „Crossing the border. Every single day.“ But I guess that´s too much. I have conducted enough research in order to understand that changes are conducted more efficiently when there are little steps being taken rather than big steps which are never been taken. Leaving my comfort zone every day? Do I truly want that? Will I truly be able to raise energy being part of the outside zone every day?
Keep it simple and stupid
That´s why for now I prefer to title it simply. Crossing the border. I just want to be aware of the fact that from time to time I have to be part of the outside zone. No matter what. Doing that „every single day“ sounds like an overwhelming task. Usually these kind of tasks never turn into action. Crossing the border. In order to enrich my future comfort zone.
I additionally recognized the need to get out of the comfort zone during my time of doing training for muscle building in a regular manner. I was confronted with the following: If you want to maintain your current condition, you have to do more. If you don´t do anything, your current condition will reduce. It will reduce by itself. Just by doing nothing. In contrast to that you have to actively push yourself forward to at least maintain your current condition.
Wow. So much effort again. Just for maintaining my current condition.
But it´s true. It´s the same what I was faced with while getting stuck within my comfort zone. There was no need anymore for my muscles which kept responsibility for so many things during my travels. So they reduced. That put me in a state of being affected by minor things more intensively and being influenced by it´s effects more deeply. I was not doing anything in order to maintain these „muscles“. So they reduced by themselves. No effort required. There would just have been effort required in order to maintain them. But I was not aware of that fact.
Holy words
Crossing the border. The inner border. My mental enemy. That piece of crap. That restless and never stopping thing which always screams loudly and always gathers for attention. I assume that everyone feels it. I´m not alone. I´m just alone with my own inner border. No one will ever care about my inner border. Because everyone has his or her own.
Do you want to listen to my inner border or do you want to listen to your own?
Any thoughts on this can be sent privately to mail@realthoughts.me or publicly via the comment function below
Martin