My Journey Out of the Zone

How often do you leave your comfort zone?

Comfort is something that I value greatly, and because of this, I rarely leave my comfort zone. I usually don’t like facing awkward or possibly uncomfortable new situations, especially because I don’t have the most outgoing or active personality. I tend to keep to myself and stick with people or places that I know well. But out of the few times that I have left my comfort zone, there have definitely been times where I expanded greatly as a person. These positive experiences have caused me to change from someone who never left his comfort zone to someone who sometimes leaves his comfort zone. One example of a positive experience I had when I left my comfort zone was when I came to Uni and joined the subbie basketball team.

Before I came to Uni, I was always a shy and reserved kid who wanted to stay inside his comfort zone. So when my parents told me to join the subbie basketball team, I was immediately against it. I didn’t want to join the basketball team because I had never really enjoyed sports. But my parents insisted that I try basketball, so eventually I gave in to their wishes.

At first I felt awkward and uncomfortable playing a sport I had never played before with other subbies that I didn’t know. Because I had avoided leaving my comfort zone my entire life, it took a while for me to open up to this activity. But I kept an open mind anyway because of the agreement I had made with my parents. Through numerous practices, I started learning how to play and also grew closer to my teammates. As the season progressed and we started playing in games, our team became like a brotherhood and I also started to enjoy the game itself. Before I knew it, I was completely drawn into basketball. I looked forward to every practice and game, and I no longer felt awkward or uncomfortable with regards to the basketball team. I went through various experiences ranging from hilarious to disappointing and constantly talked about them with my teammates. By the end of the season, I had not only gained a lot of close friends from the basketball team, but I also loved the game of basketball. Today, basketball is by far my favorite sport, and it is one of the few activities that I do simply for the pleasure of it. I constantly watch basketball (the Chicago Bulls are and will always be my favorite NBA team, if you didn’t know), and even though I am no longer on the basketball team at Uni, I take every opportunity I can to play by myself or with my friends. I cannot imagine a life without basketball.

The only reason why I am the basketball fanatic that I am today is because I stepped outside of my comfort zone in 8^th grade and joined the subbie basketball team. I learned from this experience that although leaving your comfort zone can be awkward at times, the reward is much greater than the risk. A whole new world can expand before you when you take the chance and leave your comfort zone. Yet even while knowing this, I still struggle with leaving my comfort zone today. I’m not exactly sure why this is so. Maybe it’s because of my reserved personality. Maybe it’s because I only see the risk when I’m faced with these opportunities. Maybe it’s because of a variety of reasons. Or maybe I’m just lazy. Whatever the case, leaving my comfort zone is still something I am trying to become better at. But I believe that as I break out of my comfort zone once in a while and gain more positive experiences through these choices, I will open up as a person and be more willing to leave my comfort zone in the future. After all, I have already grown a lot in this area of my life since subbie year. 

Eldest: The blessings and burdens

Prompt: What’s your role in your family?

            In my family, I am the first of three children. I have a younger sister, who is two and a half years younger than me, and a younger brother, who is nine years younger than me. Being the firstborn, I received the most attention from my parents and family members growing up. Not only was I the firstborn, but I was also the first boy born on my mother’s side of the family. Due to this, everyone took a special interest in me and so I grew up with much more attention than my siblings. However, just as the saying goes, with great power (or in my case, privilege) comes great responsibility. I have found this to be true in my own family life.

            As the first born, I always got the best of everything. Whether it was attention or clothes or opportunities, everything was given to me by my parents. Even after my younger sister was born, I was the one who received more attention. My parents were so busy trying to open up all opportunities to me that I think my sister missed out on some of her own opportunities. Whether it was playing the piano, trying out baseball and soccer, swimming, ice skating, horse riding, or learning taekwondo, I was always given the opportunity by my parents to try out anything and everything. I always knew that my parents had sacrificed a lot for me to become the person that I am, but now I also realize that my siblings had to sacrifice a lot for my sake too, whether they wanted to or not. This isn’t my fault, nor is it my parents’ fault, as naturally the more children there are, the less attention each gets. And in many cases my sister also got to try out all these different things with me. However, I still take it upon myself to try and give to my siblings what I have received from my parents.

            Throughout my life, my parents have always given me their best. As the older brother, I have a responsibility to give my best to my siblings just as my parents did for me. My parents definitely provided a lot for my siblings as well, however my job is to fill in what my parents can’t do anymore. This is especially true for my younger brother, as he has a huge age gap between my sister and me. My parents are older now, and they can’t do all the things that they used to be able to do. So I took on some “parental” duties in my brother’s life. When he was growing up, I was my brother’s main playmate. I was the one who told him stories, played games with him, and entertained him. He would seek after me whenever he was bored, and we gained a really close relationship through this. When I was younger my parents always had time to play with me, but now that they are older I took on the responsibility to both take care of and play with my brother.

            As the oldest, I have received the most, but I also have the responsibility to give the most. I have learned through this process of giving that sacrifice is very hard. I understand more of what my parents’ must have felt like every day as I sacrifice my time to guide my siblings in their lives and provide for them what they need. Although being the oldest is sometimes hard and frustrating as you don’t have an older sibling to seek advice, and you always have to set a good example for your siblings, I enjoy and cherish both the privileges and the responsibilities that come with being the oldest.