Challenge Yourself

“Don’t let someone in the cheap seats get an expensive opinion in your life”

Rachel Hollis

I just got done listening to another Rise Together podcast, and oh my was it good. I love their podcasts because they challenge and inspire you. You get done listening to it and you feel pushed to become a better person. In this podcast it makes you truly think about where you are headed in the areas of your own personal growth and how your personal growth is a necessity for you, your marriage and your family. It is hard to think about what all you want to accomplish and not let your fears overcome those dreams. When we are working on our own growth some people will have an opinion and the enemy, which is Satan, will always try and tear you down. Satan will try and steal your joy. When we are working on ourselves and bettering ourselves is when our marriage flourishes. We should want what is best for ourselves and each other. We should want to challenge each other to strive for the best versions of themselves. As our girls are getting older I am finally starting to have more time to contemplate what I want to do when they are all in school, and some dreams excite me and some scare me. They scare me because what if I fail? What will other people think of me? I am terrified of failing at things or disappointing my family. I am still trying to figure out what is next for me and I know if I lean on God and not my own understanding He will guide me to it. 

“Because you want to grow doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you now”- Rachel Hollis

Read that quote again and again. There is nothing wrong with you just because you want to grow. I am constantly finding ways to grow in my life as a wife, mother, friend, Christian and ways to know myself better. There are seasons when growth is more difficult than others. Wanting to grow is an amazing thing that should be celebrated because you are trying to be the best version of yourself. When you can be the best version of yourself you can show up better in all the other aspects of your life. Don’t look for someone else or something to make you happier, healthier or more loved because you cannot change you grow for anyone but yourself. Do not let anyone else’s opinion change the way you view yourself. One thing Rachel Hollis talked about was that you do no need to try and change in the way your sister does, your friend or some girl you follow on Instagram. If you are trying to change in the way that they are, then you are not changing in your own personal growth. You are using their personal growth as your own. Your own personal growth is important to your journey, you cannot fulfill your own dreams and goals if you are trying to live through someone else’s growth. This is the same for your marriage too. If you spend your time comparing your marriage to everything you see on Instagram or Facebook then you will never be fulfilled in your marriage.  If you think of all this rain we have had and how beautiful the grass looks because it’s so green, the flowers are beautiful, and it is like life has been breathed back into it them .  This makes me think of another quote for you to think about “The grass is greener were you water it.” This is true for your marriage and for yourself. If you nurture and water your marriage, yourself like you should mentally, physically and spiritually, it will grow and mature, just like the grass it needs to be maintained and tended to. If you neglect yourself or your marriage long enough things start to deteriorate.

“The difficult seasons we walk through are how we learn to build up strength to manage any situation.” Rachel Hollis

There are seasons that are going to challenge you more than others. There are seasons that can break you if you allow it.  But instead of letting it break you, let it make you stronger than you ever were. Challenge yourself to dream and dream big. Challenge yourself to grow more than you thought was possible. Challenge yourself to not let your fears become bigger than your dreams. I have that challenge for myself, because many times in my life I have let my fears make my decisions for me. I want to challenge myself to grow and to embrace the growth that comes from it. I want to embrace the challenge instead of letting the challenges overwhelm me. One of my favorite things that Rachel and Dave both say and I love it is, “You are either growing or your dying.” What way will you chose to challenge yourself? Whatever it is make sure it’s yours and no one else’s.