Venturing From Your Safe Harbor

By Leigh Anne Tuohy

“Change your thinking and you change the world.” This was said by the late Norman Vincent Peale. I can tell you from personal experience that he was spot on. When we challenge our mindset and realize that just because that is the way it has always been doesn’t make it accurate, we suddenly have an understanding that maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference in this crazy world we live in.

I’ve said it to you before - get out of your comfort zone. I can see a puzzled look on your face; no really I can. For just a minute, think about if your views on race, religion, socioeconomic standards, priorities, perceptions, values, and even your behavior were altered. We could only hope that people would look at you and think, “Something’s different about that person.”

My family is a true testament to this thinking. What does a family look like? I hope we have changed people’s views on that snapshot. It doesn’t have to be the two parents, one girl with a bow in her hair, one boy with freckles and a dog. Now, I’m not telling you that’s a bad thing, but there are other combinations that are wonderful and life changing. So while our family might not look typical, we feel and love as you imagine a family would.

John O’Donohue said it so well, “When you open your heart to discovery, you will be called to step outside of your comfort barriers; you will be called to risk old views and thoughts.” We think comfort zones offer us protection, but more times than not they keep us in the same flight pattern. I don’t think we need as much protection from the world as we do changing our views and engaging in the world. So sit up and step out of your old views!

I’ll close with a quote from John Shedd that buttons up what I want you to take away from this read, “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships were built for.” We were not built either to stay in a safe sheltered place, so get moving because you have the power to change someone’s life!

Leigh Anne is an interior designer and philanthropist. Dubbed a "warrior princess" by best selling author Michael Lewis, Her family's lives were chronicled in the blockbuster book and award winning movie The Blind Side. She is on the design team for ABC's Emmy winning show Extreme Makeover Home Edition and a successful Motivational Public Speaker.

Photo credit by: Randen Pederson