Get Comfortable with Discomfort
Julia Shepherd
A fully qualified Financial Adviser and Teacher working as a Money Expert helping people master their finances, deal with debt, and finally feel in control of their money and their lives
Mark Twain is credited with several travel quotes. One of the most famous is: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime"
I reflected on this quote during a recent working trip to Seville in Spain. Although I am a seasoned traveller and have worked and lived in several countries, it was only on Monday of this week that I was able to reflect on the impact travel and adventure have had on my brain.
On a coach transfer from Seville to Malaga airport I was able to visualise the new neural pathways that were forming in my grey matter as I tried to translate the road signs, as I looked over the different neighbourhoods, as I listened to the different sounds from birds and from people.
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Everything was slightly familiar and yet interestingly different. My brain constantly looking for similarities and threats. It is an explosion on all of the senses. The food tastes different, the air full of blossom and in Seville the zest of fallen oranges.
I had a Spanish lesson. One hour when I was a student again. Tuning in to the local language teacher and managing the exercises in that hour. A small win. In real life though, in shops and restaurants and with the drivers, I default to other languages a bit of French mixed with Italian and German. Languages I have used before but I thought were long forgotten. I used other communication skills when I was not understood confident to act just like a poor woman's Charlie Chaplin in a silent movie. It worked!. Universal gestures like smiling and wild gestures and open body language, I was happy to be a stranger for a short time in a strange land.
I return to the UK changed. I have grown a bit, I learned new things and appreciate that discomfort is my friend. I can do difficult and different things. Fear won't keep me safe, it will keep me stuck and I have no time for that. If you are fearing that you might need some help out of your zone of comfort and don't know where to start or how you might be able to afford it, I invite you to contact me and see how I can help. #wealthandwellbeing #financialfreedom #womenempowerment #adventure #coaching #financialcoach