Outside the comfort zone

In a remote Indonesian village lives a man named Dede whose hands and feet have grown to resemble tree roots.

A rare skin disease causes them to appear tough and woody like the gnarled bark of a weathered trunk, and they have stretched to the size of dinner plates, twisting and splitting as they go. As hands and feet, they are unrecognisable.

The growths started after Dede cut himself in the jungle when he was 15 years old. Now in his thirties, he bears the daily burden of his deformity and the growths, which are caused by a wart virus, are spreading rapidly up his arms and legs, across his body and all over his face.

Dede’s wife left him and their two teenage children long ago and without a chance of real employment he finds work as a circus attraction, travelling with five others whose lives have been blighted by disfigurement.

Word of Dede’s plight reaches a doctor in America who travels across the world to examine him. He discovers Dede has a rare immune deficiency which allows the warts to grow out of control. But for the first time there is a glimmer of hope. He can treat the immunity condition and most of Dede’s warts will miraculously disappear. Dede will be able to work again and lead a normal life with his children.

But Dede astounds the doctor by refusing treatment. He chooses to stay with the travelling circus. The tried and trusted. The familiar. He turns his back on the lifeline he has been thrown.

For most of us, Dede’s choice is inconceivable. Who knows whether culture, superstition or financial incentives have driven his decision. Or is it just maybe that Dede has grown accustomed to his plight. His disease, however debilitating, is familiar. Stepping outside of the comfort zone is too risky, too dangerous.

Like Dede we all have our comfort zones. Areas in our lives that we feel safe with and even endure because we know that to step beyond them would be challenging, scary even.

I look at my own life and instantly see many comfort zones. Others might not recognise them as such, but I know they are self-imposed limits or boundaries.

Maybe it’s time to step outside. As the saying goes:

The best discoveries are made outside your comfort zone!

Deborah