Anna writes…

I found myself pushed way out of my comfort zone with my latest writing project. It was an assignment I pulled from the board at Yahoo. The topic was a favourite album from 2011. There was no contest – Elbow – ‘build a rocket boys!’.

I have found that I can write on some topics quickly and freely, but this one took me quite a while. I love music and I love this album, but I am not a musician; so I really had to work hard at making certain I sounded like I knew what I was talking about! (I’m still not sure if I pulled it off). The whole process got me thinking about why I did that to myself. Then I thought about all the other occasions I push myself into that zone and realised that I spend quite some time out there. I think it probably stems from childhood. I was very lucky to have some exceptional experiences when I was young. I thought nothing of jumping on a plane at age 12 to go and spend a couple of weeks with a family I had never met before, in a language I was only beginning to comprehend. Experiences like that have facilitated “out of my comfort zone” to be my comfort zone! Without them I may never have agreed to live in Spain (before learning the language); perhaps I would have resisted a move stateside. Each experience has been a building block for the next.

I am preparing for my first marathon this October – that is most definitely out of my comfort zone! With all the training I am doing I can’t help but be pulled in to other people’s running challenges. I have been following a group (one of whom is our landlord) who have just run an ultra-marathon: 100 miles through the Black Hills of Dakota. Meanwhile they have raised a huge amount of money for a local charity. Their achievements have been phenomenal! It just shows that some people’s comfort zone extends way past the end of mine! Here’s a link to their facebook page – AD4AP

The most notable “out of comfort zone” experiences of late are most certainly those of my husband (and other cancer patients). Their endurance puts that of a marathon runner to shame. I run further to push myself – that’s my choice. I write more difficult articles to improve my skills – again, my choice. Barry begins a challenging regime of radiation and chemotherapy today. It will extend way beyond my marathon training. This is not a choice, this is for survival. We have had a few weeks of Barry just being Barry. Fit and able to do all the things he loves: family time, cycling, soccer coaching and he even managed a spin on the wakeboard last night. He left for work this morning like any other day despite the enormous challenge that lay in his path. Yes, I push myself out of my comfort zone but Barry is taking it to a whole new level.