Growth = Maturity
I never knew how much pain growth could bring to an individual. Its a lingering pain that comes around when you least expect it. So much anxiety is surrounded by growth because of the fact of not knowing what is next, or thinking you know what should be happening in your life and it doesn't happen. During the time of growth you find that you lose friends, you find the illness in people you never thought you'd find in them, you start to view life from a different prospective, new relationships, new troubles, new opportunities, and new heartaches. These things happen to us all as human beings and we are defined by how we respond to the pain of growth. The pain is there to build you up as an individual, that's how you have to look at any hard trial, its just growth.
If you have a job, whether salary or hourly you get paid for the countless number of hours you put in everyday. Weight lifters lift weights everyday over and over again, they push through the pain because they know there is a reward at the end of it all, Growth pays us in something money can't buy, maturity. A mature person learns new things through trials and the pain that growth brings, its truly a beautiful thing. No matter how hard a situation may have seemed at one point of time in your life, once you mature and are faced with the same or similar situation you know how to get through it the right way.
I grew up as a kid who really didn't think before he acted, by the grace of God I was always kept from going too far and ending up in situations I couldn't have come back from. My childhood was far from rough, I had some bad times but never as bad as it could've been and I'm blessed to say that because the people I grew up with couldn't say the same for themselves. Through my time as a young man I saw and went through a lot of things I shouldn't have been at that young of an age. I'm a firm believer that because of my childhood I was able to learn right from wrong at a time where the consequences weren't as harsh as they would be if I made the same decisions I did then, now. I was immature with a lot of things and once growth began to hurt, I never wanted to feel that type of pain again, so I matured.
I thought that because I was starting to do things right that I wouldn't have to deal with the pain of growth because of the amount of maturity I already have gained through the years. I was wrong. Growth can happen at any point of your life, there is no running away from it because it will always and forever be there. I learned how to embrace the pain which helps me endure it. That comes from maturity. In the toughest and lowest times my mind stays focused on the reward that comes at the end of the pain. When growth comes you should feel excited because God is beginning to bless you with something great and he needs you to be stronger before he blesses you with it. You only get strong through the pain of growth, so keep pushing.
A good friend of mine always spoke positivity over their life no matter what situation they were in they always talked about speaking things into the universe and just having the patience for it to all unfold. They taught me how to find inspiration in the small things that we take for granted everyday like sunlight, good weather, or even trees. That inspiration came at the perfect time in my life. I learned that you can't question or rush what God has planned for you because maybe you just aren't ready, he has to get you ready.
Whenever you are dealing with the pain of growth, understand that there is a reward at the end of it. Remember that we define ourselves by how we respond to the pain of growth, Embrace the pain, in order to endure it.