That was how I used to believe. What I didn't understand at the time is that there is a difference between "being comfortable" and "being complacent" - and that

That was how I used to believe. What I didn't understand at the time is that there is a difference between "being comfortable" and "being complacent" - and that in order to achieve things or grow yourself, you don't necessarily have to be in a position of discomfort. The self-mortification theory ("push it to the limit, leave your comfort zone") in its extreme, as propagated by growth evangelists (and as it originally came from the field of high-performance sports) is anti-life and wrong. People are not bonsai trees - and bonsai trees are unnatural freaks of nature. We don't have to contort ourselves to live up to an externally imposed ideal. We can - firmly grounded - become greater than these ideals, simply by growing steadily - at our own speed, and with our own, "natural", methods - even within the speeds at which we feel comfortable. So: DO listen to your gut feelings. Examine them. And listen to them.