Don’t Shrink
My apologies that it has been awhile since I have logged a post. Life has been lifing - if you know what I mean.
As the last post talked about, I am at the point in life where nothing fits.
The conversations are stale. The routines feel different. The places that felt safe, now no longer feel familiar. And the version of myself I have known for the past four years now feels too small.
If you are anything like me, you are overanalyzing what the heck is wrong… let me tell you first hand - it is nothing. You my friend, are just growing. You are shedding the old version of you, to step into who you are called to be.
This might feel like you are unhappy, you have lost your life direction, or maybe you feel like you have made a mistake, but cannot pinpoint what or where. Just because you are feeling discomfort isn’t always a sign that you or your life is falling apart - maybe it is evidence that you are growing.
We typically celebrate growth when it comes packaged all neatly as confidence, success, achievement, a promotion, etc. What we don’t talk about enough is the phase of stretching we go through beforehand. Stretching is uncomfortable, no matter who you are or what title you hold in this game we call life. The space between who you are and who you are becoming is not meant to make you question or doubt, even though it is really good at it. It is there to make you understand that things have to change and shift before you step into the life you have prayed for. I have said it once, and I will say it again - the old version of you cannot walk through the door opening for the new you.
You might catch yourself questioning things you have once accepted.
Outgrow or feel empty in environments you once loved.
Wanting and dreaming of more without fully understanding what ‘more’ looks like.
The discomfort comes from growth because it requires us to release things in life that once served us. Maybe it even saved you at one point. That save was a redirection, not the destination. That is a previous chapter, and we are now closing it to move onto the next - walk further into the plot line and journey of our lives. Every new chapter asks something of us:
Trust before - without proof
To move - before being ready
Release - before knowing what is next
This is a sign that you are being invited to something larger than this version of you. Something beautiful. Something you have prayed for. Something that requires you to let go of what no longer fits and trust God that he has it all planned out. You just have to let go, breathe, and grab his hand, while taking the steps forward.
Trust the process, even when you cannot see the outcome just yet.
REMINDER: if life feels like it is stretching you right now, don’t shrink back to make yourself fit into who you used to be. There is a reason the old you feels small and tight.
Grace in the Gap
