Five Ways to Step Outside Your Comfort Zone When You Have HIV

Ever notice how hard it can be to make a change—even a small one—in your daily routine? Humans live to maintain the familiar. We seem to be hardwired for it. Even if we aren’t happy with the day to day routine, we cling to our familiar zone. You’ve heard that expression about “the devil you know” being easier to live with than the one you don’t know. Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. 

Living with HIV challenges you to step out of your comfort zone. Not only the obvious, like your treatment regimen, but other aspects of your life as well.  Like how you structure your day, what activities you participate in, what you eat, the way you relate to people. Life is asking more of you.   

But here’s an idea: What if you looked at living with HIV as an opportunity to step outside of the familiar zone. And in response, decided to expand your life? 

Here are five ways to get started: 

Change your self-talk. Focus away from the ways in which you may feel HIV is complicating your life and toward what’s possible. Start the day by asking yourself: “What’s new today? What can I do to today that I didn’t do yesterday?” If your life’s being shaken up, then talk to yourself about how you can roll with the changes. 

Expand your knowledge. Do some research to explore new options. Ways to make your diet or your exercise routine more interesting. Activities or hobbies you can get involved in, on your own or with family and friends. How to take better care of your emotions. (We’ve got all kinds of resources right here on HIV Plus magazine.)

Don’t wait until you feel like it. You may be waiting a long time. Instead, get positive change on your schedule, just like you schedule work and your other obligations. Sure, build in the things you need to do to promote wellness, like a healthy diet and exercise. But also build in more fun stuff, like making time to be with a supportive friend or doing something you enjoy. Breaking up the usual routine requires some thought and planning. 

Stop trying to control everything! Staying stuck in a rut is not the same thing as staying in control of your life. As a matter of fact, one of the first lessons that HIV teaches is that we aren’t in control. So be OK with not knowing. What are you trying to hang on to so tightly anyway? After all, you’re still you. So be more of who you are. 

Create a vision for the future. What do you want your life to look like? Find the balance between what’s realistic and what’s possible. Maybe you’re not going to climb Mount Everest, but how about getting outside more, enjoying the open space, doing some hiking? In other words, the road to happiness and fulfillment in life is not a straight line. So consider alternate routes. Enjoy the view. 

Set goals. Make plans. Push boundaries. Keep moving. Surprise yourself. That’s resilience!