Comfort Zone

I will be the first to admit I love my comfort zone and I have realized that the older I get the smaller my comfort zone becomes. I have never been a risk taker,  I like to try new things less and less and change usually gives me anxiety but it seems like lately I have had a tugging at my heart that keeps asking me to step out of my comfort zone. It seems like these doors keep on opening and Tex and I keep on walking thru not knowing what is on the other side. It is testing both of our comfort zones but we both feel very driven to keep stepping out...

 

Yesterday Palmer inspired me!! I watched as my non-risk taker, structured, planner child spontaneously decided that he wanted to run a "running club" race because his cousins were. He had NO idea what to expect and for Palmer that meant LEAPING out of his comfort zone.

 

This race meant hundreds of kids everywhere, bull horns and pure chaos. I could almost see Palmer waving goodbye to his comfort zone thru his eyes. You can tell in this picture the excitement but the concern of not knowing what was to come. I watched as his little body lined up with hundreds of other kids to run a race where he did not know the track or even where it ended. I watched as he quietly but persistently waited for his best friend to get there so he could have a small sliver of comfort standing beside him in this big and uncomfortable moment. Most importantly I saw him be more brave than I could have ever imagined. Even a year ago Palmer would have NEVER been able to do this... the crowds, the noise, the bull horns, the uncertainty, simply it was just too much.

 

 

But yesterday he made the decision to step out of his comfort zone. I watched as the bull horn sounded and all of those kids took off and Palmer went right along with them. I watched until you could not see his little body or red shirt anymore. I watched for any glimpse that I could catch of him on the other side of the path behind the trees and over the bridge. I watched as children started to run thru the line and I felt myself tense up. Is he ok, is he tired, is he crying and about that time I spotted him. I watched as his red and sweaty face turned that last corner and the absolute determination in his eyes and he knew in that moment that he had almost made it. This was his very first run/race ever and he finished in the top 20. I could see the sparkle in his eye and although he didn't say it I could see in his face that he realized he could do things he never imagined. He also realized that he loved running, the excitment, the people, something he would have NEVER found out had he not  gone in with blind faith and was willing to try something new.

 

I feel like Tex and I are trying to be like Palmer jumping feet first into new experiences not knowing the path or even where it ends. Each time we do this it seems like we learn a little more about ourselves and the direction we want to be growing toward. Stepping out of your comfort zone is scary especially for personalities like mine and Palmer's but I keep getting the feeling that if God keeps sending me the message to step out of my comfort zone and keeps on presenting us with opportunities to do just that, then we can't lose when we are doing God's will and not ours. Palmer taught me a lot yesterday and showed me that when we do step out of our comfort zone great things can happen!