Can you let yourself grow?

an invitation to change with change

To decide and declare that the change we are experiencing is happening for us rather than to us… this is how we grow.

For more years than I care to count I’ve lived with debilitating gut pain and extreme constipation.

At the tender age of 17 I was told I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome and there was nothing I could do about it.

I can still remember what that felt like - to basically be told to suck it up and get on with my life - shocked, confused, overwhelmed, devastated.

I felt like I had no control over the symptoms or the fact that it was happening.

I also felt the uprising of a strength and power I had yet to experience and came as a decision and declaration that I would not be a victim of this mysterious pain --

It was not going to happen to me - it was going to happen for me.

I have Louise Hay to thank for inspiring that much-needed shift from powerless to empowered way back when, and also because I still experience the pain and its associated problems to this day.

And I know that if I hadn’t used the issue to learn and heal and grow - to become more compassionate, more open, more accepting, more connected to myself and to life - then I would’ve become a bitter, resentful, pessimistic, ungrateful person living a miserable existence. Surviving yes, but far from thriving.

So I want you to know we can grow as we go through life’s challenges.

We can and we do when we decide and declare that the change we are going through - as hard as it may be - will contain opportunities for us to learn and heal and grow and become.

It will test us and at times bring out the worst in us. But if we let it, it can and will bring out the best in us too - qualities and experiences and meaning and connections we didn’t even know were possible.

The quote at the top is from my book Find Your Way, on page 94. Here’s a photo of the full entry - read it, soak it in and then apply it to a change you’re going through now. I’ve also added some questions below it that you can take to the journal to help you explore a change more deeply.

With my love, Gena xo

Take it to the journal:

When I think about a change I am going through, what am I learning about myself…about others…about life?

In what ways have I already grown and evolved through previous changes - are there qualities I am more of or less of, for the better? Have I been able to let go of things that were holding me back or weighing me down?

What about my approach to change? Describe it and then reflect - do you need to change how you view change? Do you need to be more willing and open - a more active participant rather than a stubborn on-looker?

I’ve become more…

I feel more…

I’m now open to…

PS. My book Find Your Way is all about managing change with awareness and self-compassion. So if you have a copy - great! Keep it close and use it to support you as you go and grow. And if you don’t yet have one, you can check it out on my website and read a few excerpts for free and also buy one if you feel drawn to : )