Don't Get Too Comfortable....

At church this past Sunday, Fr. Bob spoke about stepping outside your comfort zone. I felt as if he was talking to me specifically. You see, I spent three days last week outside of my comfort zone. I put myself there. I wanted to be there. I was part of a small group that trained to facilitators on the new High Ropes course at camp. I was excited and nervous at the same time, having no clue what to expect. Unlike the other participants, I had never been on or even looked at a high ropes course and was feeling a little overwhelmed at the beginning. I can’t say it was completely the heights, but frankly, 20 or 40 feet in the air, standing on a wire or a teeny tiny platform, scary. The course was mentally challenging, even more so than physically. I made the choice to take that training and wanted to squeeze every drop of experience out of it that I could.



There were people in the group I knew, people I didn’t, people I felt super comfortable with and trusted, and others I wasn’t so sure about. Trust is not something I can give on a whim. I don’t want to be preachy and say that you have to earn my trust, yadda yadda, but honestly, I had a hard time just putting my life in someone’s hands right away. Saying to someone, “Yes, go ahead, clip me into these cables and I’ll just trust you” or “Sure, I’ll stand on this platform with you and trust you to send me down the zip line” or “Uh, okay, I’ll climb this wall and let you control the ropes that keep me from plummeting to the ground,” not so easy. It was a completely different world up there, at least the view I had. It was new, it was scary, it was challenging to the body. I had muscles that hurt that I didn’t know I had, I had scrapes and bruises, I had a thumb that was still healing that got pushed to it’s limits and perhaps beyond.


Going beyond what we perceive to be our limits is not easy at all. As humans we like to comfortable, we find our circle, our niche, the places and people we feel at ease with, and we tend to stick with that. Some people are brave souls, living life outside that circle, or perhaps with no circle at all. It is a challenge and a choice to step outside that comfort zone, to take a leap of faith (though often not so literal of a leap), and try something new. Climbing the wall, riding the zip line, traversing elements suspended in the air, none of these things fall within my comfort zone. I stepped outside, took some deep breaths, and went for it, did the best I could, and told myself that trying something new, taking the challenge, already means I succeeded. I may not have been the best at doing the tasks, but I did the best I could.


It was odd to sit in church, where, to be completely honest, I am not always listening, and feel like someone was talking to me. I know Fr. Bob wasn’t, but relating what he was saying to what I had experienced for three days, was interesting. I can’t say the moment was particularly religiously significant, but rather personally significant. It was a moment when the term, a leap of faith, took on some new meaning for me. I literally had leapt and had to have faith, not only in myself, but others. Faith and trust went hand in hand, and thankfully, those were strong hands!


What have you done that has put you outside your comfort zone? How did you feel afterwards?

Training (W)heels

As any reader of my blog knows, I LOVE shoes! Heels are my preference, the higher the better! I believe every woman should wear them, learn to walk in them, embrace them and the wonderousness they bring to our lives (not to mention how great they make your legs look).

My friend Darlene met my famly at church today andthen came over to our house for lunch. She is a wonderful person and we always have insane amounts of fun together. But, there is one thing we do not agree on... shoes. Now, she woreheels to church today and I am so proud of her for that. You see, my good friend tends to be a creature of comfort (which is one of the things I like about her), and as such, her footwear of choice usually looks something like this:

Now, I on the other hand, would much prefer if my tennis shoes looked like this:

Now, call me crazy, but I think they are adorable! And frankly, I run better in heels than in flats (well, when/if I run), so I think they are a good option.

Onto the issue of actual high-heeled sho

es, the footwear of the goddesses... ahhhhh.... Today my mother said that, for her, a 1 1/2 inch heel is just fine, nothing higher. I about cried, seriously. 1 1/2 inches? Really? Really? Say it ain't so! Someone hold me!

Shoes with a 1 1/2 inch heel looks like this:

To me, these are what I call training heels. They are the heels that get girls ready for their first pair of real heels. Now, I realize that there is a time and place for a shoe with a low heel or for a nice pair of flats (and believe it or not, I do own some), but I am not convinced that these should be in the same category as real heels, grown up heels. My heels of choice are not something outrageous, something that is too high for people to actually walk in, just something with a substanial heel, something that makes people notice what I am wearing on my feet.

Let's say something like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Or this:

I recently saw something online that, to me, is the ultimate in training heels. You can think what you want, but I think they are adorable, and if I have anything to do with it, my niece Katie will have a pair sooner rather than later (she does turn 8 months next week and what could possibly be a more perfect gift from her Aunt Nina).

Here they are:

Heels for babies, yes, you saw that correctly. (Check out all the cute pairs here: http://www.heelarious.com/ ) I know there are people out there who think these are so wrong and bad for our children, but frankly, if you child is not walking yet, how are they hurting them any? They are adorable, and I think every gal, no matter her age, should have a fabulous pair of heels.

So, I guess even if they are training heels, for a baby or my mother, they are heels. My dream is to have a closet akin to that of Carrie in SATC, the movie, and those amazing, fabulous, perfect shoes she got from Big....

Ahhhh... every Cinderella has her slipper, and that is perfect and so worth "training" for!