Although growth may hurt at times does not mean that it is not worth it. Change holds every reason needed to have growth be worth the things felt along the way.

The unknown areas of life will hold you back until you no longer allow them to.

Tell me what it feels like to have everything you have ever known suddenly make no sense. Explain why the things that drive you to make bad decisions win so frequently. Show the world what you are supposed to be in its eyes instead of what you want to be through your own outlook. These are the things that make growth so hard to pursue. These are also the things that can drive the person inside of you to become everything needed to succeed.

I remember feeling as if life was finally starting to shine in the ways that I wanted it to. I was changing consistently in ways that I had started to understand as good. I experienced patches of happiness that were shadowed by moments of doubt and grief. I was sure of what I wanted to become but unsure if I would please the people I did it all for at the time. The pain of growing seemed like a shapeshifting void that could never quite be filled. This happened until I started to realize that changing for others will never hold the same promise that changing for myself did.

The true journey toward growing begins when you do it for yourself. The most valid effort toward growth begins when sitting in darkness has provided enough reason to grow larger than your problems. We must become selfish with our self-discovery process in order to find firm ground to travel on.

What will you do today to understand growth pains as an opportunity to move away from the things you currently want to get away from?