I was recently rereading my post from October of 2015 about comfort and challenge, and another aspect has come up for me: the relationship between challenge and growth. Sometimes our challenges are not things that we seek out purposefully, but things that life throws at us. Deaths, births, deep friendships or romantic relationships beginning or ending, changes in employment or living situation–periodically things just get shaken up. If you’re open to it, these shake-ups can be opportunities for growth.

The metaphor that occurs to me comes from one of my favorite hobbies–gardening. Imagine yourself as a potted plant. Every so often, you are suddenly yanked from your familiar surroundings, roots disturbed, maybe some leaves or whole branches lopped off, and plunked into a new pot. If you’re lucky, the general growing conditions are still suited to your preferences–the sun, water, and nutrients that help you flourish–but with your roots disturbed, you’re still going to need some time and extra protection while you recover from the change. And then, if you haven’t become too root-bound, too wrapped up and tied to the previous size and shape of your life, you might suddenly find yourself with room to expand. You stretch out into the new soil, growing securely rooted once more. New leaves and branches have a chance to sprout. And you’ve embraced the chance to become something more than you were.

Think about the ways that your challenges have changed you. Think about the ways that change enables growth. It may not be comfortable, or fun… but it can be valuable to have your life shaken up periodically. And if life goes on too long without a shake-up, maybe you stop growing and expanding. Maybe your roots begin to circle ‘round, weave together, become a matted mass that can only be changed with a much larger disturbance. How does your life feel to you right now? Constraining? Expansive? How much space surrounds your roots?