Me and my Comfort Zone

"Why should I want to leave my comfort zone? It's called that for a reason!"

I'm with the inimitable Sheldon Cooper on this one, but I was called to account recently. Though it was said in jest that I was in need of being dragged from my comfort zone, I was unaccountably rattled -  and wondered why.

I might appear self-confident and sociable (probably irritatingly so), but it's no secret that I prefer to sleep in my own bed. Indeed I admit that after any social occasion I am exhausted and seriously in need of space and silence. Why?

I've given it considerable thought - or what passes for thought - over the next weeks... I mentioned the matter to the dog, who looked suitably inscrutable. I gave it more thought..

In the night came a revelation and it has helped a lot - it came to me that everything I have done in recent times has been a step, or sometimes a stumble out of my comfort zone: the events leading to our move here are well-known and need no repetition - but events they were and each was a leap in the dark. The move here was, as many moves are to a vaguely-known town and a house seen twice.

And everything I have done since has been a step out of my comfort zone; every new venture I have tried -  some successfully, some less -  has been an often terrifying leap into the unknown. After a foray into yet another roomful of strangers who all seem to know one another, it's no wonder, I think that I crave a retreat to the silence of my little stone house and my only familiar relationships..

So please cut me a little slack, as I intend to do for myself - I may be sparky and bright, I may be silent and evasive...give me time