How to expand your horizons
If you want to expand your horizons you have to make it a priority to get out of your comfort zone daily, weekly, and monthly. This can start with little things, and move toward bigger, less comfortable things. Let's take a look at some examples and how they can help you to expand your horizons:
Daily: Decide something that you encounter regularly that makes you uncomfortable. For example, perhaps you take your child to school every day, and each morning you see the mother's of the other children, but you are too uncomfortable to talk to them. So, your daily trip outside of your comfort zone is that you will waive, or make a friendly hand gesture to the other ladies. This may not be easy for you, but it will mean that you have done something to at least try and expand your horizons.
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Weekly: After a week of daily waiving, you can make your weekly goal to be that you actually say hi. Talking could be a big leap for you, but this can be just once a week. You say hello and have a talk with them about the children. If you have no ideas of what to talk about, start small. Ask what interests their child has. Ask what they have planned for the summer. Ask about their life, dog, whatever you have in common with them. Even if all you say is "Nice weather we have been having, huh?" You do not have to talk about anything you do not want to. Just say hi. This can help in expanding your horizons.
Monthly: Now that you are waiving each day, and on talking terms once a week, your monthly goal should be to invite them over. You could have a barbeque for the whole family, or just set up a play date for the two kids. You can get together with her, gossip, talk about the weather, whatever.
If you do this, you will now have a friend. You will have expanded your horizons in doing that because you will now learn new things because you will learn about their interests, and things that affect their life.
If you want to expand horizons more, take a class, just one a season; watch the Discovery Channel, or some other learning station. It is up to you to expand your horizons. No one else is going to expand your horizons for you.
It is your choice what you do, but if you take small steps to get there, it will open up lots of possibilities for you.
So, set some daily goals for expanding your horizons. This could be reading one chapter of a book. It could be spending five minutes on an exercise bike. It could be trying something you have never had interest in before, like art, or music, or math. If you want to expand your horizons, you have to start somewhere, so start where you are.
Determine what you are doing, and where you need to go. If you need to expand your interests, start with learning about things you do not know much of. If you need to expand your relationship circles, start close to home. Get to know your friends better, get to know your neighbors. You do not have to go far from home to expand your horizons. You just have to do something you are not 100% comfortable doing.
So, expand your horizons and be happy doing it.
