Stepping Out

Deb’s post on stepping out of our comfort zone came timely for me. I’ve been pondering the very same thing myself the last few weeks, particularly since I finished Alex and Brett Harris’ book Do Hard Things. While their book was written with a teenage audience in view, it is excellent for pretty much any age. One of the things that struck me the most was the emphasis on doing new things.

Getting out of that comfy spot isn't the easiest thing on earth. I have found it quite simple to slip into a routine and get very comfortable with it. It is easy to do this when you are single. I work all day, come home and putter around the house for a bit and then do whatever I want. This usually translates into the same old thing: blog, write, read and hang out with the family. Day in and day out, the same. Having a daily routine and sticking to it isn’t a bad thing – it just isn’t always the best thing, just like not having any form of a schedule isn’t always a good thing.

Most of us singles have an amazing blessing that we don’t always appreciate: lots of free time. Some of us may have more than others, but it boils down to one thing: we don’t have husbands and children of our own to focus all our attention on. Our attention can be focused elsewhere, our time can be spent elsewhere. We have time to…try new things.

New things don’t have to take up a lot of our time or seem terribly hard. They don’t always have to take us that far out of our comfort zones. It can be a small as taking over the grocery shopping and trying out new recipes. It can be as large as taking up voice lessons again or singing a solo in front of a crowd of strangers. Debate class. College courses. Gardening. Playing the piano. It can be as small as picking up a new book at the library, a new book, something you will find a challenge.

The thing is: do it. Make a list of all the things you’d do if you had the courage and time and money. Pick one and just do it.

In exactly a week, a small church in our area will find me singing a solo and a duet in concert, on stage. My first solo in front of total strangers. I’m pretty sure I will do horribly, that I will die of nerves, but I’m doing it. It’s a small, yet huge step out of my comfort zone. One of the first of many, I hope and pray.

And if you think of me, you can pray that this step won’t be as traumatic as my wild imagination supposes. The duet, as beautiful as it may sound here at home, doesn’t sound quite as good when I’m nervous, and a solo - well, a solo is a solo! Stepping out of my comfort zone doesn’t mean that I’ll automatically sound good. I think this stepping-out bit is going to take work.