“Grow through what you go through.”
-unknown
Have you ever walked through a hard season of life that you didn’t understand? During those times it’s easy to allow the disappointment, pain, hurt and frustration of the moment to cloud your view. But, what if instead of allowing it to crush you, you instead made a commitment to grow through it? In the moment it may be hard to think about growing through something that’s hard. That’s why it’s so important to give yourself time to feel and process the emotions that comes with the experience you face. Sometimes it may take awhile to gather yourself but once you do, challenge yourself to find ways to see the situation from a different perspective.
This past Saturday made a year from the time I celebrated coming out of my seven weeks of quarantine with Covid-19. I talk about this time often because it really was the hardest but most transformational season of my life. Being all alone in the same room and sick for seven weeks is no joke. I look back and I am surprised at how much that season of life change me for the better. If I didn’t see that time as a growing opportunity, who knows where I would be. The first few weeks were so hard because I was disappointed and frustrated with just being stuck by myself and not really feeling well. After I started to feel better I knew that I needed to change the way I was thinking and allow myself to grow through this experience if I wanted to leave out better.
Instead of allowing the depression and disappointment to take over I challenged myself to start journaling and writing down the emotions I felt. I gave myself time to process my emotions. I asked myself questions like, “Why do I feel this way?” “What makes me feel this way?” “What can I do when I start to feel this way?” “What are some healthy ways to cope?” Giving myself time to feel and process my emotions really helped me to come up with a game plan to grow through that time. I didn’t know how long I would be in quarantine but I knew that I now had the opportunity kid free to work on myself, grow and learn to take care of myself in all areas. If I wouldn’t have taken the time to step back and get out of my feelings I would have never saw that time as an opportunity to grow.
Sometimes stepping back and giving yourself room to grow and process life can really help take your life to another level. My time in quarantine started my self-care journey and health journey. I have grown so much since that time. It makes me think of how God can use the things we go through to completely change the entire course of our lives if we are willing to see the hardships we face as an opportunity to grow. Going through hard things isn’t always easy but I challenge myself to ask the question, “What is this situation trying to teach me?” Life is sometimes hard but it’s so important to challenge yourself to learn to think differently about the situations you experience. Instead of seeing things from one perspective challenge yourself to ask different questions and give yourself time to process the experience.
One thing I have learned through this experience is the importance of allowing myself room to grow and be human. It’s okay to not always be okay, but I never want to stay in the place of not being okay. Giving myself time to process what I feel helps me to come out of that place when I give myself time to discover what I truly need. Going through hard experiences changes you and sometimes that change has a way of making you bitter with life if you are not intentional on fully processing and figuring out how to deal with the pain so that it can make you better. This experience has taught me that no matter what you go through and how hard it maybe there is purpose in your pain.
My encouragement to you is to grow through the things that you go through. I know it’s not going to be easy and sometimes you may want to give up but you’ve come too far to go back. Think about all you have overcome and all that God has brought you through. Take a moment to look back at how much you’ve grown. Don’t ever give up on yourself. Learn to change your story by growing through what you go through. Thanks so much for reading!
Follow my health and self care journey on Instagram @ishope_blog
What’s something you have experienced that has challenged you to grow? Comment below I would love to hear your story.
Intentional Hope 