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How good is it to sit on the shore1 in Surfers Paradise, just where the waves feel like little splashes2? Simply relaxing and comforting, right? Wrong.
The region beta paradox is described as a situation that is not too bad or just good enough, that you feel comfortable not to evolve3. And without any opportunity to evolve, we stay in our comfort zone, don’t we? Let’s look at more examples.
Living with your parents in your mid-twenties is great because rent is free and mum is there to cook for you. However, you don’t feel comfortable leaving your clothes everywhere in the house or experimenting in the kitchen but you can manage.
You live on the Gold Coast but you enjoy spending time with friends from your home country because they remind you of your culture and you share similar interests. Although you’re not gaining much confidence in English, which you were supposed to4 have done by now.
Your class at your language school is so much fun because your classmates are friendly and your teacher makes the class interesting. Nevertheless5, you’ve been in the same class for many weeks and you’re only slowly improving.
These examples define the region beta paradox; you’re in a lukewarm6 situation. You feel fine and comfortable, and there’s no need to rush7. However, if you were in boiling water, your fight-or-flight response8 would get activated, and you would make a drastic9 move from that comfort zone!
Let’s go back to our Surfers Paradise example. What if you got up, walked further into the ocean and faced the big waves (between the flags of course). The fear of seeing the waves catch up to you, and quickly deciding whether to jump or dive, is part of the fun of swimming on the Gold Coast. Fun, right?
You might learn more about yourself and your abilities if you were thrown into the deep end10. If you had a worse situation, you’d possibly evolve faster – don’t you think? There are many times when situations get so bad that you learn more. And when learning English, do you think it’s better to learn when you feel comfortable or when the situation forces you to use the language?
- shore (noun)- the land along the edge of a sea, lake, or other large body of water. ↩︎
- splashes (noun)- cause (liquid) to strike or fall on something in irregular drops. ↩︎
- evolve (verb) – develop gradually ↩︎
- be supposed to (passive form) – to be expected to do something ↩︎
- Nevertheless (adverb) – synonym of ‘however’ ↩︎
- lukewarm (adjective) – moderately warm ↩︎
- rush (verb) – to move with urgent haste ↩︎
- fight-or-flight response – the instinctive reaction to a threat ↩︎
- drastic (adjective) – dramatic / extreme ↩︎
- be thrown into the deep end (idiomatic expression) – to be put in a new situation without any help or preparation ↩︎
My Life in English 
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