Tonight we went to see the circus with a group of other senior missionaries. It was great fun! I was amazed by the way those kids could bend themselves and the elaborate acrobatics they performed.
There are many things that we think are too hard, or might even call impossible. However when I watched those young children bend themselves like pretzels, or a lovely young girl stand en point first on her partner's shoulder and then up on his head, I had to admit that these kids were doing a lot of things most would consider impossible. (They must be built with rubber bands!)
There were so many things I would have liked to have asked the performers. How long does it take to learn those skills? How do they overcome their fear of jumping into nothing, trusting they will be caught properly by their partners?
I have a terrible fear of heights, so the very idea of doing many of the things these kids did was beyond any imagination for me. Beyond that - their balance was incredible.
Having had three different falls causing me injury in the past two years, I have mindfully been working on improving my balance lately. One of the exercises I do for this is to stand on one foot while I am brushing my teeth. I'm getting pretty good at it now, but when I first started I was quite wobbly. I must admit it feels pretty silly to take satisfaction in being able to stand on one foot for two minutes when I see what this team of accomplished acrobats could achieve!
But then I had to remind myself, it does me no good to compare myself to others. I am better served to compare my current ability to where I used to be. I am making progress. I am improving. That's what matters. Will I ever be an acrobat? Not hardly. But I will continue to stretch my own ability to build strength and increase balance. In the future when I try to push myself to do something just a bit further outside my comfort zone, I will think of the kids in this show and be reminded that a lot more is possible than I might initially think.
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