My daughter is spending the next week with her grandparents. She’s only been gone a few hours but already I can sense things are different. No one is asking me to ‘watch’ them. No one wants to change the channel on the TV.  No one wants to talk to me when I go to the bathroom. At some point I am sure I will love the quiet, but for right now, I miss her silly face. I feel a little Inside Out.

When I dropped her off, every irrational fear a mother can have bubbled to the surface. Evidently hers did too as my usually very independent girl began to cry. We both stood there with tears and hugged. Even so, we both knew it was good for her to go. We both knew she would have fun. After all, it was only 6 days, not 6 months.

My girl and I spend a lot of time together. Her dad travels the majority of the week for work leaving many adventures to just the two of us. Until reality was flexing its muscles, we were both looking forward to a break from each other.

But in that moment, the understanding that our days wouldn’t start with a hug.. or that they wouldn’t end with a snuggle on the couch.. was overwhelming.

Alert! Alert! Red Flag! Warning!

Time to ‘get out of our comfort zone’.

Notice no one ever says that like they won the lottery. Its more of a groan. The truth is, it

doesn’t matter whether its leaving your child for a week, starting a new business, or trying a different food… getting out of your comfort zone isn’t easy but it’s usually worth it.

A week ago, I took my daughter and a friend to see the new movie, “Inside Out.” It’s about a little girl’s move to a new city as told through the emotions that live in her brain. It’s no surprise that parents are loving it. I think parents are a lot like “Joy”. They always want their child to be happy. They think if he or she isn’t happy than that’s bad. The movie reminds us that “Sad” is okay. There is purpose in that emotion. There is purpose in all of our emotions. Without them, we wouldn’t appreciate “Joy” quite as much.

Getting out of your comfort zone shows you just how tough you are. It gives us perspective. It pushes us. It forces us to consider and reflect. It shapes our opinions.

So today I’m out of my comfort zone.. in a quiet house… without my sidekick.

I’m inside out.. and that’s a good thing.

I can’t wait to see what I learn this time…