An angry spirit had trapped us in a dark and scary house (again!) We started in a decrepit hallway and worked our way into a bedroom that had all sorts of booby traps set by the ghost to keep us from finding a way out. Finally, we got to a point where we were stuck. There did not appear to be a way out, and the angry spirit was closing in. We pulled out a few drawers, starting our search of the room again to see what we missed, and it triggered a trunk opening at the end of the bed. Looking in the trunk, we found a secret tunnel! And boy was it tiny! It looked like something a child would use to escape.

Only one of us (the non-6’4 male) was able to shimmy into the trunk and enter the tunnel. The space was so small it required low crawling. Once the end of the tunnel was reached, a locked gate was found. After a moment of breathing through a bit of claustrophobia to calm the brain to prevent the tunnel vision that comes with mild panic (yes, pun intended), a key was found near the entrance, and liberation from the tunnel was achieved. A latch was located that opened part of the wall in the other room so we could both escape.

When we encounter an uncomfortable, scary, or new challenge in an escape room experience, we jump on it. That doesn’t mean that we are fearful or uncomfortable while tackling it, but we love the opportunity to do something outside of our comfort zone because we know that it helps expand it. Let’s relate this to life. Are you doing something that scares you regularly? Maybe it’s agreeing to speak at an upcoming event when you are nervous about public speaking. Perhaps it’s submitting a good enough project and not to the “perfection” that you believe it should be. It could be speaking up when you’re worried that not everyone will like your idea. Whatever makes you uncomfortable, it is vital for your personal (and professional) growth that you do it. The more we do things outside our comfort zone, the more it expands, and the more confident and capable we become.