Comfort zones. We all have them. We all love to be in them. For most of us, it is difficult to move out of our comfortable places. Often times, we don't even realize how long we have been comfortable until someone or something challenges us to make a change.
This summer, I spent some time doing two things that pushed me out of my comfort zone. The first activity involves horses and the second involves painting.
My dear friend Jeannie has started a horse ministry called Freedom Path. She gracioiusly invited me to attend. I agreed mostly out of my deep affection for Jeannie. Not because I love horses. Until the first meeting, I had very little exposure to these amazing (and big) animals. I literally cried with fear at the thought of getting on a horse. I had no clue what I was doing. With help from Jeannie, I was able to ride around in the ring without falling off. The next week, I was a little more confident, until I saw the horse was getting on. Thunder was 17 hands tall! In horse speak, that means huge! I was nervous to say the least. However, by the grace of God and help from my friend, I rode around the ring and didn't fall off. By the third week, we were settled at a barn and I was given the honor of riding Jeannie's horse, Candy. Now, at the end of the summer I love horses. I am able to do all the tack for Candy by myself. I am only unsure when it comes to tightening the saddle and getting the bit in her mouth. I not only learned a ton about horses, I also learned a lot about myself. I like things to be well thought out and planned. I am not a risk taker. Although I did do pretty good running up hills with Candy. The story of my growing love for horses is way too long to share here, but I will say this ministry opportunity has been one of the best things I have done in my life thus far.
The second out of my comfort zone activity I did involved painting. My mom and I took a class at Paint By the Glass in West Chester. You pick a painting and everyone in the class works on the same one with direction from the instructor. Part of my personality is that I don't like to do things that I am not fairly certain I will be good at. I already know I am not artistic. My brother got all those gifts. I sat in front of the blank canvas and felt very nervous. It took me several minutes after the initial instruction to put my paintbrush on the canvas. I did not want to mess up. At the end of class, I stepped back and tried very hard not to compare my painting to every other painting in the room. I decided that I liked what I produced and am proud to have it hang in my house.
Now, I didn't fall in love with painting the way I fell in love with horses. However, I did enjoy trying two new things that were definitely out of my comfort zone. You know what? It felt good. It felt good to challenge myself. To not be good at something and develop a skill that is very hard for me...humbly asking for help.
So try something new. Do something that stretches you and maybe even scares you a little bit. Find some supportive friends to help you through it and give stepping out of your comfort zone a try.
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