3-6

As I was reading on Saturday I came across a quote I thought got me thinking. Philip Crosby, author of Quality is Free, writes, "There is a theory of human behavior that says people subconsciously retard their own intellectual growth. They come to rely on cliches and habits. Once they reach the age of their own personal comfort with the world, they stop learning and their minds run on idle for the rest of their days. They may progress organizationally, they may be ambitious and eager, and they may even work night and day. But they learn no more. The bigoted, the narrow-minded, the stubborn, and the perpetually optimistic have all stopped learning. " What gets me about this quote is that this describes exactly where I was a year ago. I was at a point in my life where I had created a small form of comfort with the world around me and I had stopped learning and growing. I was in a comfort zone of mediocrity and didn't really care to get outside of it. In April of '07 I meet a group of people who had been in the same place that I was and had decided they could no longer live the rest of their days with their mind running on idle. They stepped out of their comfort zone and by doing so forced themselves into a learning cycle. Once we reach a level of education that we feel comfortable with, most people stop learning. I have been amazed to realize how many people don't read another book after they graduate from college or high school. They just stop with their personal education. I began to realize that I was the same way. The only books I had read since college were related to the fantastical world of Harry Potter. Besides the going-ons of Harry and the gang, I also knew A LOT about shows on television and what was going on in movies. I spent so much time on filling my comfort zone with items that would maintain my level in life instead of stepping out of my comfort zone and raising my level in life. I began to see how by changing the things I was exposing my mind and heart to I could change the way I thought. My changed thoughts could drive changed actions and build new habits. If I worked diligently on my actions and habits I could someday come into a new way of life. But there are things to be careful about. As I step out of my comfort zone I have to be careful that I do not begin to build another one around myself again. I have to continually step out of what I am use to and be driven by a hunger to know more and to grow more. I have to keep myself slightly unsatisfied with what I know and how I live. Looking past my present situation to bigger and better tomorrow. At the end of the quote it describes a couple of types of people who are stuck in their comfort zone. I'm not so sure about that, but I do know that I was relying on cliches and old habits with my brain running on idle for the rest of my days. As I keep reading I am making a pledge to refuse to let my brain run on idle. A pledge to keep my motor running.