Lately I’ve been stretched to my max. I have no one to blame but myself. I’ve created numerous deadlines for myself and challenges—opportunities—all within a very short amount of time.
Sometimes the stretching doesn’t feel so good. Like a teenager with growth pains, I can feel myself aching from the effort. But I know it’s a necessary pain, and it will subside. I’ll be better, different, once the growth spurt ends. I will have reached the goals I set out before me. That alone will make me feel different about myself. It will, in fact change me, and possibly the perception others have of me. It could also change my life in some cases.
Stretching is good—as long as you don’t stretch yourself so thin that you snap, like a rubber band. You want to stretch and grow, like a plant rising toward the sun and blossoming. You can be a rubber band, learning just how far you can stretch…maybe even contorting a bit, twisting, getting wider, thinner. But it’s better to stretch like a plant, climbing up the fence, bending through the slats, and finding a way to reach the sun so you can create fruit, blooms, and continue to grow. Or imagine a tiny, skinny seedling starting out in a cup, reaching upward to the unknown, to the light as its leaves spread.
The point is, after, all to grow, to transform, to reach your limit, and to go beyond it. To find a new one, and again stretch past it. Humans can do that. Even plants can do that. Rubber bands just break when they reach their limit. We are here to reach our full potential—whatever that may be.
If you never stretch, though, you’ll never find your current limit or discover a new one. You’ll never reach your full potential.
Consider if you are stretching right now. How could you stretch–tomorrow, next month, this year?
You don’t need to have five challenges at a time to stretch. But choose one. Stretch a little. Stretch a lot. But stretch.
And tell me about your stretches, and how they transformed you and your life by leaving me a comment.
Photo courtesy of Simon Howden | freedigitalphotos.net
I’m stretching right now. For years, I was a stay-at-home mom who wrote, but probably at most 5 hrs a week. Now that my youngest is at school, I’m writing about 3-4 hrs a day, 5 days a week. I’ve got multiple deadlines to meet at a time, thank G-d, and it’s great doing what I love. I’m learning new things, meeting new people, and my writing is developing in all sorts of ways I never expected. But it’s definitely challenging because the scheduling, the balancing, etc. is all so new.
Scheduling is tough when the kids are young. But kudos to you for stretching…and growing…and getting it done! TY for your comment.
I’ve been inflexible my entire life. I started stretching a few days ago and it has transformed my life already. Hard to explain the euphoria after stretching in the morning. Nothing gets me ready to tackle the day like stretching.
That wasn’t the type of stretching I was referring to, but good for you!