This Comfort Zone

By Marimar McNaughton

Staff Writer

At the YWCA’s women of achievement awards last week, 42 women and young ladies were recognized for their leadership in the fields of business, communications, education, environment, public service, health and wellness, and volunteerism.

One of them, Wrightsville Beach School principal Pansy Rumley, received one of the top 12 honors for her role as an educator. Her vision for a marine science and environmental studies curriculum forced her into the mainstream of fundraising to support programs she initiated that utilize outdoor resources to teach experiential sciences.

The construction of the pier at WBS, the county’s only waterside school, encourages participation by faculty and students, and other regional school groups, some from as far away as Durham County, to use the facilities to learn about nature, examine our fragile ecosystem up close, and enroll young children at an early age in the process of becoming good stewards of the earth.

Rarely does outstanding achievement like this occur in the comfort zone. More often than not, true leadership like Rumley’s emerges out of the discomfort zone.

To the naked eye, the comfort zone was blanketed this Memorial Day weekend by a sea of bikinis and buffed bodies. Marching to the beat of a different drummer was one lone shirtless soldier, Steve Grimsley, who carried the American flag — a visually potent reminder of what this weekend actually was intended to represent: not the start of the summer season, but a day of tribute for those who risked and gave up their lives in military service for their country’s freedom.

Our town fathers and mothers sometimes find themselves in the position to steward those freedoms. Collectively, they have faced many uncomfortable situations during their tenure of public service. It is during these times of circumspection, often fueled by public debate, that they find themselves in the discomfort zone where real learning takes place, real leadership steps up to the plate and real achievement occurs, benefiting the entire community.

As we sit on the sidelines and watch, report to our readers and await the outcomes, I wonder: When was the last time you left your comfort zone?