Growing up I was quite shy, only comfortable being myself around those with whom I was closest. Put me in a new situation around new people, and I immediately clammed up, faded into the background, hid under the radar…anything to keep from having the attention put on me.

I hated being in these situations, so much that I did what I could to prevent them. Like sticking to what and who I was comfortable with…

Put me on a horse flying (okay running) full speed ahead to turn a barrel or weave between some poles and I was a-okay.

Send me to the river to hang with a few of my best girlfriends and I’d laugh and joke all day long.

Sit me at the lunch table with my “high-school gang” and I’d ask any question that entered my mind without fear of rebuke (and I asked a lot of questions!).

I had a locked-down comfort zone with little to no interest in pushing against it. It served me well (or so I thought) until I started to seriously ask myself what I wanted to experience in life. Before giving …

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