Stepping out of our Comfort Zone…..and onto the Runway?!?!?

Walking in front of 160 people isn’t exactly our idea of fun, but to raise money for a good cause –  we’ll do almost anything!  

Have you ever agreed to do something, only to have second thoughts as the time got closer? Recently a good friend asked us to model in a fashion show to raise money for a local non profit (YWCA of Darien/Norwalk https://ywcadn.org/ ) When she first asked us, we were both so flattered, but also surprised and a bit apprehensive. Model clothes??? Why us???  I’m all of 5’1″ and Bev’s idea of dressy clothes are jeans and a t-shirt. Neither of us actually had any experience strutting down a catwalk – Lol! But we were both excited – how fun!

However, as the date got closer we both started getting a little nervous. What would we wear? How many people would be watching us? And how do you even walk on a runway? About a week beforehand, we saw a list of names of those who would be modeling. It included local politicians and well-known community members. Again, why were we even on the list??? Our insecurities and worries about the event were rising to the surface.

But then, when we went to the local department store sponsoring the event (Darien Sports Shop https://www.dariensport.com/ ) to be fitted for the fashion show, it was actually a lot of fun! A stylist chose so many different items for us to try on – some of which were definitely “out of our comfort zone”. But all of the clothes were beautiful, well-made, comfortable and looked great!

The afternoon of the Big Night, some of our doubts reappeared all over again. “Maybe we should call in sick???” we joked. And when we headed out early to prep, Bev and I both had butterflies (kinda’ like pre-race jitters). But once we arrived and started getting ready, we saw so many different women (and men!) and kids who would be modeling: all different ages and looks and plenty of “regular” people like us – What a relief! Guess we weren’t totally out of place? And there were hairstylists and professional makeup artists to help everyone get ready – our own glam squad! Lol

Before we started out on the runway, they began playing fun music and passing out champagne to those who were watching, giving it a festive party atmosphere. And then we started our strut…. and it was actually fun!!!! Great music, with everyone clapping for us, and familiar faces waving to us from the crowd.

Afterward when we were having our celebratory champagne and chatting, we kept hearing the same things: “You guys were so great!” ”I could never have done something like that!” “You’re really brave!” “So glad you represented our age group!” So after all, we really did do a great thing – we took a risk, wearing clothes we wouldn’t normally choose for ourselves, trying something we’d never done, put ourselves out there and WE HAD FUN. All while raising money for a good cause. You know, it actually felt a lot like finishing a race!

Sometimes in life, you’ve really just gotta take a chance and put yourself out there – No matter how old you are!