One day at work, one of my coworkers asked me, out of the blue, if I had any summer goals. There were no customers in desperate need of assistance, so I had no way out of this question. I can’t remember what I told her, but I can imagine it was something along the lines of: “I don’t know, man; read more, write more, do more…try some new stuff.” Nice and vague, and it seemed to satisfy them.
This exchange, though, has made me wonder; what ARE my goals, and WHY are these goals the goals I set? I always want to do MORE, but is there something more concrete I could focus on? While reading and writing more sounds noble, I’m already on my fourteenth book of the year, so I think I’ve got that covered.
At this point, you may be wondering what my inability to set legitimate goals has to do with Ability Online and the users it supports… Well, hey, don’t interrupt, I’m getting there.
See, Ability Online has many forums open for discussion; asking questions like, “What’s your favourite super hero? (Captain America) and “What are you afraid of?” (Spiders; they have so many legs, and are so very fast.) But the forum I want to talk about now is called “Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone.”
On this forum, people have discussed things like social anxiety and fears, and personal goals and triumphs. As we’re all different, there is a wide array of posts; all of these goals are valuable, regardless of magnitude.
“Remy, no. That’s silly. A goal to “read more” or make a new pal, or learn a new bus route isn’t as valuable as going back to school, or learning how to cook.”
Isn’t it, though?
Those who use Ability Online experience life differently; they may or may not have certain limitations which they must cope with in order to prosper. From the second these limitations are discovered, they are labelled and defined. “You can’t run; you’ll suck at math; you’ll never see anyone like you in movies or on TV”
The act of stepping outside our predetermined and often very comfortable comfort zones as we age becomes even more important than ever because of these labels and definitions thrown our way. While those who label and define us may have some knowledge and even, maybe, some experience, the only way we’ll ever find out what we can do, is to do it….or try to, anyway.
So, yeah, I’ll say it again; every goal on this forum has immense value; I don’t care how big or how small. While comfort Zones can be, well, comfortable, they can get a bit boring, repetitive, and predictable.
As a final word, I implore you to set your summer goals; and know that Ability Online will be around to share in your triumphs all season long.
