stretching

so i've been tryin' to stretch lately.
physically.
as in yoga.
but we can't call it that.
cause um.
ohmygosh i can barely bend.
so, for now, to avoid confusion, i've been calling it 'stretching'.

and wow.
do i ever need to.

i see slight improvements.
just slight.

the thing is, i look at this and wonder where the heck would i be if
i didn't even try?!  i'd like to keep at this for the rest of my life.
so that feels good and right.
and a little unnerving when i look at how much i need it, and i think
'what if i had waited another ten years? or just not done it at all?'

no beating up on myself. just kinda amazed how important it seems
and how i'm only just doin' it. and how i can feel how much i need to be stretched.

and that's physical.

today i did some emotional stretching.
sigh.

i had to get out of my comfort zone.
i like my comfort zone.
thing is, i wasn't comfortable in my comfort zone,
and i figured i'd be even more uncomfortable if i didn't leave it for a bit,
so i left it and got uncomfortable outside of it.

so much for comfort.

but my friend reminded me that it was like the stretching -
good stuff, needed to be done, would help in the end, even if it didn't feel
all that great in the moment.

i've been thinking about that.
and while i want to be grumbly about admitting it right now,
i know that's so true and it's as important as the physical stretching.

we gotta stretch if we wanna grow with any kinda grace.
we gotta stretch.

with the physical stretching, i haven't minded it.
i've even liked it.
cause i can see i need it really badly and i can see it will only help me.

i'm not as eager with the emotional stretching.
and i think that's interesting.
prolly means i need to do a whole lot more of it.......