New Beginnings, (All Good Things Must Come to an End)

Hey guys,

John is returning to second shift tomorrow night, so I'll have to get used to his old schedule once again after being on a month of first shift. (So it will be crazy for a bit around here.)

Today's post is my final post for the series New Beginnings, I started for the month of April. The first Monday in May will start my May series, which will be dedicated to mothers in honor of Mother's Day.

For most of this series, I wrote about the good that comes with new beginnings. Today I thought I would talk about the growing pains and tough parts of starting over. When I was a little girl, I used to have bad cramps in my legs, growing pains as they are called. (My youngest sister had a much rougher time, she would cry to the point of screaming...it got so bad.) At the time I didn't understand, I just knew I was in pain. The pain was necessary for my growth physically. This works the same way with growing mentally and spiritually.

I've learned that with growing mentally and spiritually, you have to experience some pain in order to mature. It's different from the physical pain of growing pains, but it can cut you to the core and make you feel as though your heart is breaking. I've been at both ends of the spectrum. I've felt times of such intense pain that I thought I couldn't take it anymore. (These were probably the usual situations family, friends, life decisions, etc.) I've also been so numb that I just didn't care anymore. (Despite, getting a break from feeling, I can promise you feeling is so much better.) Through these times, I grew as a person. It seems that whatever situation life throws at you, you can persevere. If you take the bad situation and try to learn from it. You will always make mistakes because we are all imperfect, but the important thing is to learn and allow change to take place in your life.

I do honestly believe, that we can be the biggest obstacle in our own lives. 

"Without the continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning."-Benjamin Franklin

 This quote still rings true today. It is very possible that we block our own progress, by refusing to recognize the truths that we learn about ourselves. This could be because we are ashamed of what we have done or have not done. This could be because we don't feel ready to accomplish the task set before us. There are many flurries of brain activity, when one of these big epiphany moments takes place. It's our responsibility to learn to take a moment to breathe, and learn how to deal with what we have learned. Once we are able to process the news, we are then capable of reaching a more mature conclusion and growth can take place. 

It is my hope that with each passing year, I will become more equipped in this area. I hope that I will learn from my mistakes and not make the same mistakes over and over again, BUT if I do I'll try to remember that there is something important that I need to learn. 

I also hope that whoever might read this, that they will feel encouraged and will remember to embrace the growing pains of life.

<3 Anna