This past week has been a challenge for me in that it required me to go outside of my comfort zone multiple times. The first was completion of my first graduate level Final test. Undergraduate was not a challenge for me at all. I spent a lot of my time bored. Part of starting my Master’s degree was to fulfill a void in me that needs intellectual challenges. I love to learn and I love to learn things that are hard and make the brain hurt. That is why Theology and Philosophy are right up my alley. They stretch me to my very limits of reason and then Faith expands me even further. I appreciated that my Final exam required me to write 7 pages of definitions and essays. That is nothing like what I experienced in Undergrad. In three weeks, I will take a Church History Final that stretches 12 centuries. I want to move out of my current intellectual understanding, into deeper knowledge of God, truth, and myself.
Second, I decided to REALLY step outside of my comfort zone and try out an online direct sales business. I became a Jamberry Nails Independent Consultant. Sales are not a strong suit for me. I am bad at asking people to purchase an item even if I really enjoy using the product. I was introduced to Jamberry nail wraps three months ago at a friend’s online Facebook party. At first I was skeptical. I don’t usually take the time to do my nails and the first time I put them on I did a poor job, so they did not last as long as they should have. Even so, I agreed to host a FB party of my own and really started to like them. That’s when I decided to give selling them a try. I like that they allow me to “dress up” a bit as a mom and grad student. I am going to give it a year and see how I do. It is a marathon not a sprint.
Third, I went a ministry meeting on a committee at my parish for the first time in months. I got burned out after our parish became rather divided after a couple of years of tumult. I got tired of the fighting and needed to take a step back. I was asked a couple of months ago to join the Christian Formation Committee. Since I like to teach and study it is a good fit for me. The best part, I am not in charge! Thankfully, our priest has taken charge and it was a very enjoyable meeting. It only lasted an hour and nobody left upset.
Fourth, I am learning to rely more on my husband even when he has to be brutally honest with me. It is hard and it has caused a lot tears, but it is growth. I have been fiercely independent for most of my life, so marriage has been a major adjustment for me. I am a huge work in progress. How have you done this week? Click on the CatholicMom.com graphic above to join the conversation.
Swimming the Depths 
Jobs can make you stratch. A few years ago when I took a “mom’s hours” job, it was at a locally-owned chocolate-and-coffee shop. The owner told me that she wanted me to learn something about each customer who came in. What??? I felt much too reserved to do that. Show them the chocolate, pour the coffee, sure – but learn something? Talk about stepping out of my comfort zone! It turns out just having the attitude that there IS something to learn made for a good relationship with our customers. It took time (marathon, not a sprint …), but that job lasted three wonderful years. The hardest part of leaving was saying goodbye to the customers to whom I’d served coffee and muffins every morning. If I’d stayed in my shell, those wonderful people would have been just a bunch of random faces to me.
Best of luck with Jamberry. I hope your customers will be as great a blessing to you as mine were to me.
That’s “stretch”, not “stratch” … sorry!
Your post makes me long for my student days…
I remember loving to learn that much in nursing school! I always planned to get my master’s or even more, but God had other plans for me. So glad you are feeling challenged! It must feel amazing.
You are an inspiration, taking challenges head on, not afraid of any of it!