I have never really been the type that goes out or try to mix with people. I am more of an introvert, and have always been perfectly fine with it.
I rarely went anywhere unless it was essential to do so, while I was growing up. Neither did I have any close friends that I could comfortably visit and/or spend the night with. I just preferred being home. That was where I found comfort.
Spending the night anywhere else that was not my parents' house was a tough situation to put myself. I would end up not sleeping at all. Instead, just lay there, wide awake, restless and wishing I was back home. Every noise would freak me out.
It got to the point where I just stopped trying to grow pass it. I'd just stay at home, rather than cope with that kind of discomfort. Home was my safe haven and my only comfort zone for a long time.
Then I got admission into the university. I couldn't exactly live with my parents forever, could I? Even so, leaving home was like a big deal for me.
I almost cried the first day I resumed school and my mom was about to leave after helping me move my things and settle in the school's hostel. But, I held back the tears.
I just stood there, surrouded by all these new faces. I thought about what my first night would be like, this far away from home. While trying to ignore the fact that I would be there for months.
The first night was almost entirely sleepless. The bed was felt weird and uncomfortable, the noise in the room made it even harder to sleep and everything was just all over the place to me. I did not even talk much to the girls sharing the room with me - there were seven of them. They seemed nice, but I just wasn't comfortable yet. In the evening, I'd call home, sometimes even twice that same evening. Just hearing my mom and siblings' voice made me feel better.
But as days went by, things started to change. I started adjusting even without realising it. I found myself talking a bit more, laughing when my roommates joked and getting used to the chaos of hostel life. We'll joke about school stress, laugh and talk till late night. I started sleeping better, as well. Gradually, the strange place began to seem like a familiar space.
The experience of stepping out of my comfort zone was not so easy for me to do then. I actually think it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. But now that I think about it, it help me grow. I learned how to handle some stuffs on my own and how to survive without my parents around.
Discomfort is just temporary. It typically last for a short period of time and goes away as soon as you bevome accustomed to things.
Stepping out of your comfort zone is like the small and maybe scary steps we occasionally take that can oftentimes turn into the proudest moments of our lives. I thought that my only happy place was in my parents' house, but now I have come to realise that peace is something I can build anywhere, once I let myself.
Comfort can be beautiful and cool, but it can hold you back, it can be limiting. It just keeps you stuck in one place and make you forget that you can actually adapt, survive and even crush it in a new environment or a different situation.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry to the Indiaunited Community contest for this week.