It was so beautiful today!  Especially for February…60+ degrees.  Great to be hiking in a T-shirt this time of year…and even better for my calves and my quads, the snow was all gone this week except for a sad little melty lump here and there.  I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve been able to walk with a normal gait on the trail and it felt so EASY after weeks of walking in slippery and soft snow.  Today I was back in my comfort zone.

As I hiked, it made me think about how easy it is to get STUCK in our comfort zones…especially for those of us who have been single for an extended period of time.  As much as I may say I am looking forward to finding my life partner, there is always that little voice in the background:  “But then everything will change.  You have your routine and your stuff exactly the way you want it.” Then the little voice goes deeper:  “You can’t possibly have your heart broken again if you stay single!  Life is predictable, easy and SAFE.  Why fix it if it ain’t broke?”

Sometimes it is a struggle to come up with a good answer to that.  Days when I am reminded of some of my more painful breakups make it easy to want to stay in my safe little bubble of perpetual singleness.  When I reflect on some of the more interesting (aka disturbing) internet dating experiences I’ve had, it just seems to make sense to stay out of the cyberspace meat market.  And when I see another marriage that looked so good from the outside crumble on the inside, I wonder why I am even bothering at all. But I have to say this: some of the most rewarding moments and relationships in my life have come from me stepping out of my comfort zone. And I want more of them.  I’m not ready to call it a day on living life fully and deeply.  So that means I have to suck it up and get uncomfortable sometimes.

For you that might look like finally putting together that kick-butt profile for a dating website and actually putting it on the internet.  It might be saying “yes” to the friend who has been dying to set you up with someone.  Or it might be showing up to that singles event at your church and actually talking to people you don’t know.  Maybe you’ve been super-hurt in the past, and as you see the potential for a new relationship on the horizon, it’ll take some extra courage to explore it.  Or maybe you’ve never dated…and you’re scared of what it will feel like to really open up to someone for the first time.  It’ll mean overcoming that fear and doing it anyway.

I can’t guarantee any of these things will lead to marriage…but I do guarantee a richer life experience when you open yourself up to the possibility of new relationships.  I have met so many interesting people on my journey and I can’t say I regret meeting a single one of them…they have all contributed to my story in some small way, and hopefully I’ve contributed (positively) to theirs.  At the end of the day, do you want to look back and say you sat on the bench the whole time?  Is it really that great of an accomplishment to say you played it safe?  Protected your heart at all costs?

You have to decide for yourself whether the risk is worth it.  But even after getting my heart crushed to a pulp approximately 5 and a half times (some day I’ll blog about the time it only got half-broken) I say, get out there!  Walk down some of those paths that might leave you with sore muscles – embrace that little bit of uncomfortableness.  You will build strength, courage, perseverance, and who knows?  You could find a pretty cool person to share the rest of your life with. Comments?  Concerns? Criticisms?  Jokes? You know what to do…