Hawaii Girl Meets World: January 2016

"Break out of your comfort zone", really seems like a cliche statement. The words have been thrown around here and there, but in reality its meaning holds a lot of truth.

Whether we realize it or not, we step out of our comfort zones on a daily basis. In my eyes, FEAR is the reason we want to hold on to our safe zones.

This fear starts in our youth. From a fear of monsters being under your bed, the fright of riding a bike for the first time, the anxiety of trying out for your high school sports team or the lead role in a play, the pressure of starting college, the terror of graduating and entering the “real world” – the list could literally go on and on.

All of these are fears that millions of people overcome everyday until they are no longer a fear, but turn into a part of their life.

Now I can guess what you’re thinking...

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS GIRL KNOW ABOUT MY LIFE OR MY FEARS?!?!

Honestly, no one truly knows your fears but you! But from my experience, stepping out of my comfort zone has really made my life a lot happier.

“The sooner you step away from your comfort zone; The sooner you’ll realize that it wasn’t all that comfortable.” -Eddie Harris Jr.

All smiles in Amsterdam

Every time I have gained the courage to step out of my comfort zone, it has brought me one step closer to a life that I want to live.

A somewhat recent example would be finally leaving my first job.

I worked for the company for about 6 years. I started straight out of high school and worked through college and then some. I eventually took on a management role, but I didn’t see myself going anywhere from there. It finally came to a point where I was completely unhappy with my life. And what was funny was that it was all centered around that job. I would wake-up early with the negative mindset of how crappy my day was going to be when I stepped in to work. And when I got home after my shift, I had such a bad attitude. Even my family and friends noticed the negative presence I’d have around them after a day at work. I ended up getting another job, but didn’t quit my first job. For a while, I was working about 85 hours a week between both jobs. Even cutting down my hours didn’t help; I was UNHAPPY.

Still till this day, I don’t know why I decided to stay at that job for as long as I did. But, I do know that it was apart of my “comfort zone”. Although I wasn’t happy there, it was all that I had done except for school and the thought of starting a new job somewhere else honestly scared me. Even when I tried to quit (several times), they somehow always got me to stay and I know in actuality it was my fear that was holding me back.

The day I quit was the day that I felt FREE. I started having a positive attitude, began going out more, and eventually did things that benefited my life. It was amazing! I’m sure anyone who has been in my shoes knows the feeling I am talking about.

Fast forward a few months and I am here deciding to overcome another fear...

CREATING THIS BLOG!!!

Now you may be thinking, what’s so scary about that?

For starters, when it comes to my writing I have a fear of judgement. A million questions run through my head...

Will anybody want to read what I have to say?

Does my writing make sense to someone other than myself?

Is this topic even interesting?

I finally built up the courage to put my writing out there for the world to read, despite the millions of questions my fears put into my head.

Now, you may be wondering...WHO THE HELL AM I?

Well, my name is Kristian (pronounced Christian). I am a 24 year old, living in Hawai’i on the island of O’ahu. I like to travel, hike, go to the beach, and to wrap this extremely short intro up, I like to write.

I got into writing mid-way through college. I had an appointment with my advisor telling me that I needed to start deciding on a major. At the time, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My advisor asked me if I liked to write. After instantly saying no to the idea, she pointed out that I had taken at least 2 english courses every semester and had 4 more writing intensive courses than required of me. So I sat there puzzled for a while. Do I like to write? I never really thought about it. Putting my thoughts in to words did come easily to me and I guess it was never really a hassle to do.

Then...lightbulb!

I DISCOVERED MY LOVE FOR WRITING!

About a year later, I was asked if I wanted to join the school newspaper. I wrote a lot of out-of-the-box articles and food reviews. I believe this really increased my want to write.

All of this has lead me to start this blog. I had been told for years that I should start one. Friends and family would tell me to write about my travels, adventures, new places to see, and my random rants.

Finally, after years of suggestions to start a blog, you are here reading my very first post. This is proof that breaking out of your comfort zone isn’t such a bad idea. It will lead you to do things you may have seemed possible.

My blog will offer you tips on the places I travel to, will give you an insight into my adventures, and will allow you to step into my frame of thinking.

I will try to keep this updated weekly, but you know how life gets lol

Stay tuned, cool kids! Thanks for reading!