Being Like a Rubber Band

I found this on a message board and was so inspired by it. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


Being like a Rubber Band:
Ellie Drake


Being stretched can turn out to be very positive.

Imagine a rubber band. You hold one end of the band in one hand while stretching the opposite end of with your other hand. The more you stretch it, the more the rubber band wants us to let go it so it can come back to it's original position. In just wants to return to its place of comfort.

Yet if we continue stretching it, that rubber band will eventually grow into a new size. When we let go of it now, it will come back some, but not the entire distance. In essence, it has developed a new dimension.

Now imagine that you dip this original rubber band into hot wax, then quickly remove it. You then allow the wax to dry. At this point, if you repeat the stretching exercise you'll notice that as you extend the rubber band the wax caked around it cracks and crumbles, then falls off.

The same dynamic occurs with humans. We don't want to get stretched, because it will involve letting go of some external layers. We are comfortable within those layers, and they may even seem to be protecting us. Yet, in fact, they are getting in the way of the new, evolving being who we already are on the inside. They are an impediment to our growth.

Also like that rubber band, we must temporarily experience being uncomfortable when we stretch and grow. In the process of becoming the butterfly we were metaphorically meant to be, we are outgrowing a cocoon. The butterfly doesn't snip off its wings and re-enter the cocoon. It knows of no such thing. But we, as human beings, have a tendency to snip our own new-grown wings so we can retreat to the cocoon that represents our old zone of comfort. Unfortunately, the zone of comfort is seldom the territory of fulfillment. The butterfly has no choice. The human has an ability to make such choice.

The next time you are feeling stretched and uncomfortable, pat yourself on the back and say "Good for me. I must be growing!" In fact, if you are not stretching, growing, and evolving, then you are probably too attached to being comfortable.

The home based business industry brings us opportunities to grow and stretch consistently. Every day look at your challenges as opportunities. The question you may be asking is "How can I do that?"

The real question to ask is not "Can I?", It's "Will I?"

How "willing" are you? or better yet "What are the reasons why you may want to allow willingness into your life and therefore your business?"