There hasn't been a lot of stretching going on in my life lately. Unless you count stretching before a work-out. Or stretching myself thin--I do a lot of that! Somehow, I don't think these types of stretching are exactly what the promptress has in mind, though.
I've done things out of my comfort zone plenty of times in the past. Things like going away to college. Like traveling alone to a summer job in a different state, where I didn't know a soul. Climbing a mountain. Moving my family across the U.S. from one coast to another and starting a new life in an entirely different culture. My first cross-state bike ride was definitely stretching myself. Planning my daughter's wedding last year was a big stretch for me as well; I had never done anything on a larger scale like that before. In concert with the wedding planning, my husband and I took ballroom dance lessons--another stretch.
I suppose I've done some small-scale stretching lately. I started taking a Zumba class, which is dancing to Latin music and involves a lot of hip shaking and shimmying. Way out of my normal comfort zone! I went ziplining with some friends last spring, which was a scary unknown at first. I'm teaching myself to crochet and thus learning a new skill; I guess that's a small way of stretching. Just last week, I volunteered for a long-term project at work involving the cataloging of manuscript collections and personal papers for the archives of the University--something I know little about, but will learn as I go.
As I've written this, I've noticed that most of my stretching involves physical activity and not so much educational/intellectual/spiritual activity. Hmmmm... what does that say about Sharon? I probably need to broaden my horizons and bring a little more balance into my life.
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