Stepping Out of Comfort Zone

I remember when we committed to walking the Camino, how daunting it seemed to us. Walking 500 miles just seemed crazy. It was something that was definitely took us out of our comfort zone. We talked about if for a long time and then it lead finally to being a commitment and we just went all in to make it happen. We jumped right in with both feet even though we were not sure if we could really walk 500 miles.

“All glory comes from daring to begin”

We dared to begin. We dared ourselves to try something completely out of our comfort zone. I believe that we need to do this in our lives to grow.

I recently have taken a step out of my comfort zone again. Some of you may know that I been singing in our Church choir for a number of years. Our choir director, Susan Olmos, took a courageous step out of her comfort zone by decided to resurrect a Rock Musical she wrote and produced over 30 years ago! It was a huge undertaking with all that she is doing already. She dared to begin!

Now the thing you need to know about my musical singing ability is that I am not a natural. I was never trained in music formally and have learned by doing mostly. I am ok as long as I have strong singers next to me. I thought about it for some time, I have never been in a musical. Can I really do this? Am I crazy to even try this?

Oh, well. I decided to begin. To join the musical. It is called “In His Hands” and will be on May 13,14 and 15 at Mountlake Terrace High School.

I encourage you all to consider taking a step on something you are not sure you really can do. I can attest it can be very rewarding!

Blessings,

John

P.S. If you are interested learning more about this musical and hopefully coming to one of the performances, here is the information on it:

In His Hands Musical  – This is the Musical’s webpage that has all the details.

“In His Hands” – Facebook page

Tickets are also available online up till the end of this month at Brown Paper Bag

All the proceeds from the Musical will be donated to a very worthy Children’s charity – Washington Kids in Transition that works to feed hungry children in the Edmonds School District.

The “In His Hands” Musical will be at Montlake Terrace High School on:

Friday May 13th, 7:30pm

Saturday May 14th, 3pm and 7:30pm

Sunday May 15th, 3pm

 

Photograph of the Month

Bandon Sunset

Love that town of Bandon with all its beautiful seastacks. Found the a great set of trees to frame this just at Sunset.

Delayed Gratification

 

I read recently read about a study done a number of years ago by a Stanford professor regarding “delayed gratification”. This research study “struck a cord” with me for some reason and I thought I would share it with you.It is called the “Marshmallow Challenge”. It goes like this.

The researchers took a number of four year olds and they put them individually in a room with someone that was doing the administering the test. They had a marshmallow sitting on a table and told them that they had to leave and would be back. They told them that if they wanted the marshmallow they could have it now but if they waited until he returned they could have two marshmallows.

It turned out that about one third of the children took the marshmallow as soon as they left the room. The other two thirds did anything and everything they could to distract themselves and hang on till he returned 15 to 20 minutes later.

The most interesting part of the research is they followed up with these same kids when they were young adults. The difference they found between these two groups was dramatic. Those kids that were able to delay gratification (they “two marshmallow” kids), were more socially competent, personally effective, self-assertive, and better able to cope with the frustrations of life. They embraced challenges and pursued them instead of giving up in the face of difficulties; they were self-reliant and confident, trustworthy and dependable. They took initiative and plunged into projects.

The “one marshmallow” kids tended to have fewer of these qualities and shared a more troubled psychological portrait. They were seen shying away from social contact, they were stubborn and indecisive; easily upset by frustrations, thought of themselves as “bad or unworthy”, could be immobilized by stress, mistrustful and resentful of not “getting enough”, prone to jealousy and envy, tended to overreact to irritation with a sharp temper and so provoked arguments and fights.

Interesting results for sure!  I suspect that many of those that walk the 500 mile Camino de Santiago certainly have a lot of the qualities that were present in those kids that delayed their gratification and held out for the two marshmallows. It takes a lot of emotional resilience to deal with all that this long walk delivers.

Delayed gratification. Something for us all to think about as we raise our children and grandchildren as well.

Blessings,

John

Photograph of the Week

Ocean Time

Using my new Superzoom Nikon I was able to pull in this interesting view of a couple with there dog on a spit of land between the Yachats river the ocean. Made for a very interesting composition.