As I continued to watch the rain out the window my mind wandered to other things. Surely a mind wanders through many topics before it finds one that it feels is more appealing. My mind happened to pause on comfort zones. I was once more thinking of my mother.

I turned to the left and looked at the man as he watched out of the window.

"My mother was an interesting woman." I began. "She was certainly much more vocal then I have been. Perhaps that will change, but I admire her strength to enter into a district that was not ran by her blood's friends. Instead she walked out of her comfort zone and into something much harder for herself.

She walked into an uphill battle to improve herself. She knew she couldn't become a better version of herself if she surrounded herself with the people she knew inside and out. I am sure her life would have been much easier if she had. Instead she chose to work hard. To put effort into a family that didn't know her as completely as others did. She walked into a district that barely understood her at all.
Was it a walk in the park? Not a chance."

I stopped talking momentarily. Tracing my finger against the window pane as I thought about my next words. I watched as my finger tip moved steadily across it before I snapped back into speaking.

"My point is, do comfort zones really make you grow? Or does stepping out of them make you a better person? Can you really grow beside those you know inside and out? Or is it an easy way to gain what you want? Perhaps you seek power, surely that would be easier to gain amongst those that call your line friend. But does it necessarily make you a better person?

I feel that if you go outside of your comfort zone you will learn different things. Perhaps someone else's perspective may change the way you do something. Or maybe it will just help you to learn how to do a skill much better than perhaps you were doing it before. Either way do you feel comfort zones are better or worse for your growth?

I'd like to think that stepping out of mine has perhaps given me a better perspective of the things I would like to accomplish in the future."

I turned back to the window. Laying my head against the glass as I waited for him to speak. Perhaps someone else had overheard us in this room. It was after all a very small looking bar, anyone could have been listening in.

"Signora, you are quite correct, nobody ever develops without being under some variant of pressure"

Louis steps forwards, raising his hat as a courtesy. His smile was slight, but genuine.

"You can learn great things from stepping out of your comfort zone. For the better? For the worse? Did someone react as expected or did their reaction surprise you? Did you gain from it or suffer?"

Raising a short glass of whiskey, Louis took a long, thoughtful swig. 

"Regardless, you'll learn from it, and there is your development"

"My point is, do comfort zones really make you grow? Or does stepping out of them make you a better person? Can you really grow beside those you know inside and out? Or is it an easy way to gain what you want? Perhaps you seek power, surely that would be easier to gain amongst those that call your line friend. But does it necessarily make you a better person?

The point would be to build up and gain (take) power, not becoming a better person, right? 

I feel that if you go outside of your comfort zone you will learn different things. Perhaps someone else's perspective may change the way you do something. Or maybe it will just help you to learn how to do a skill much better than perhaps you were doing it before. Either way do you feel comfort zones are better or worse for your growth?

I guess it would help with learning some things. Working harder, making new contacts etc. I definitely think it gains us something, Don Zeitgeist definitely wasn't in my comfort zone before, but I must say I'm very happy here, and that I have possible found a new ''comfort zone''.

Thank you LouisGato and MinamotoNoYoritomo for your thoughts.

MinamotoNoYoritomo, I would certainly hope that those building up to gain power do improve themselves. It would suck to work for a leader that couldn't think beyond themselves wouldn't it? Or a hand that was so caught up in the idea of just warring? Besides those in power are not perfect. I am sure some look to improve the way they do things from time to time.