Bend and stretch,
reach for the sky
We grow through adversity. We need not seek it out; we can all look back at moments when our lives were in utter chaos, desolation and despair. Growth comes when we respond to adversity by stretching just an edge beyond our talent and experience.
—Dr. Robert D. Wald
Remember the old Romper Room song—”Bend and stretch, reach for the sky.” Everyone watching television grabbed their toes, then stood on tiptoes and threw their arms in the air.
Little did we know that philosophy was good for more than just flattening our tummies.
Bend and stretch.
There are times, maybe lots of them, when it seems we just can’t go any farther, when our head aches from searching for solutions, when we’re sure we can’t handle one more thing going wrong.
But, sure enough, another thing goes wrong; yet, somehow, we reach inside ourselves and find a strength we hadn’t tapped before.
At that moment, we grow.
At that moment, we know we are better than adversity. At that moment, we bend and stretch and reach for the sky.
I’ve watched the girls on the softball team stretch out that last stride toward first base. From somewhere, they pull out just a little more ‘umph’ to beat the throw to first.
That little ‘umph’ is inside all of us; it’s that little push which makes us keep going, keep trying, keep reaching for the sky.
There, in the sunlight, is contentment.
"We grow through adversity. We need not seek it out; we can all look back at moments when our lives were in utter chaos, desolation and despair.
Growth comes when we respond to adversity by stretching just an edge beyond our talent and experience."
—Dr. Robert D. Wald
