Comfort Zones
Some weeks back, I heard a Zen teacher talk about the comfort zone of traditional Zen monks in Japan. They function very well within the monastery, but are helpless outside of it. And isn't our way of doing here in the west so much better?
But we all have our comfort zones. I notice it very well in my own life.
Everything goes quite smoothly in a typical day, because I am familiar with it and have learned how to work with it. I have bumped up against whatever hangups typically gets triggered by these typical situations, and I have worked with it and resolved it sufficiently to not experience a great deal of discomfort. It is comfortable, because it is familiar.
Outside of this, my buttons get pushed and my hangups surface.
This is how it is for all of us. It is not only Zen monks in Japan who have comfort zones.