Life

            James Brown once said, "Any problems in the world can be solved by dancing." So I want everyone in this room who has any type of problem to stand up with me and demonstrate the proper way of dancing the Macarena. No, really, it will solve your problems. Why aren't you getting up? Oh, it must be because you consider that awkward or embarrassing, right? I take it, you standing up and dancing in front of all these people would make you very uncomfortable. That's because I essentially just asked you to step out of your comfort zone, and you obviously did not like that idea. But you are not alone. In a response to Oprah Winfrey's online poll concerning stepping out of your comfort zone, more than 6800 responses included that they felt "like prisoners of their own comfort zone". If only these women knew that dancing the Macarena would solve all their problems if it were only that easy .
             Naturally, we are unwilling to leave our protective shell to become truly creative. Our human nature tells us to stay in our protected area where it's safe, where we won't be ridiculed or laughed at. But guess what? Stepping out of your comfort zone opens up a whole new world. As the poet Tennyson once wrote, "The shell must break before the bird can fly." But before we just go busting out of our shells, we must examine the idea of leaving one's comfort zone and put it up to the Rotary Four-Way Test. First we will evaluate if it is the true, then take a look and make sure it is fair to all concerned, if it will build goodwill and better friendships, and most importantly, if it is beneficial to all concerned?.
             Is it the truth? Why, yes of course! Walt Disney's The Princess Diaries reminds us that, "The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all." So we must collectively choose to break out of our comfort zones, because the truth is, we can never enjoy life to its" full potential if we do not.