Comfortable in my comfort

How direct deposit put a ceiling on my potential

Listen here.

I was staring at my pay stub a couple of weeks ago. I don’t usually look at it because the dollars just show up in my account as they have for the last 30 years. But that day, I just wanted to see the number.

It’s been a good year. A blessed year, really. Yet I felt... nothing.

No anxiety about whether the next one would show up on time. No scrambling to cover unexpected expenses. Just the direct deposit hitting my account every two weeks. Like clockwork.

That’s when it hit me: I’ve gotten comfortable in my comfort.

I write about stepping into your potential every week. I tell you to take risks, to stop playing small, to chase the life you were made to live. And here I am, stuck in the same loop I keep warning you about.

The paycheck shows up. Insurance gets deducted before I see it. I go to the doctor, pick up prescriptions, and barely glance at the copay. Amazon Prime packages show up at least twice a week. App subscriptions multiply (I really thought I’d use that AllTrails app this year!). And somehow the credit card just gets paid every month. I don’t even think about it.

That’s the problem. I stopped thinking about it. And when you stop thinking, you stop growing. You’re just... maintaining.

And maintaining isn’t living.

Dr. Myles Munroe said something that punched me in the gut when I first heard it:

“The wealthiest place in the world is the cemetery. There lies companies that were never started, masterpieces that were never painted. In the cemetery is buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential.”

Take another look at that quote. The wealthiest place isn’t Wall Street or Silicon Valley. It’s the graveyard. All those people who played it safe. Who had ideas but never acted on them. Who felt the pull toward something bigger but talked themselves out of it because the paycheck was steady.

I don’t want my life to end with a bunch of unlived dreams. I’m guessing you don’t either.

Here’s what I’m realizing: comfort isn’t bad. Security isn’t the enemy. But when comfort becomes the point instead of the starting line, you stop becoming who you were made to be. You trade your potential for a predictable routine. And one day you look up and wonder what has become of your life.

I believe God has called me to something bigger than what I’m currently doing. Maybe you feel that same pull. That voice you hear in your spirit that says there’s more. But then you think about the steady paycheck, the insurance, the 401 (k) match. And you talk yourself right back into the La-Z-Boy recliner you’ve been sitting in for years.

I get it. I’ve been doing it too.

But here’s the thing: I’m not promised tomorrow. Neither are you.

I’m stepping into a new season. I’ll share more about that soon. But right now, I want you to sit with a question that’s been keeping me up at night:

What are you leaving on the table because comfort feels safer than calling?

What dream have you shelved because the direct deposit keeps hitting? What risk have you avoided because “fine” or “good” is easier than “fulfilling”? What’s slowly dying inside you while you tell yourself you’ll get to it someday?

You were made for more than maintaining. More than just getting by. More than crossing another year off the calendar.

Don’t let your best ideas end up in the graveyard. They belong out here, in the world, making a difference.

It’s your time. I’m cheering for you.