Growing Doesn’t Mean Sacrificing Now

Before I dive too far into this, we should always be happy with the people we are in the current moment. Growth does not mean that the person you are today is any less valuable than the person you will be in ten years. That’s why it’s growth.

Being cheated and broken can make us into worse people, or it can shape us into better people, stronger, and far more resilient.

We should always choose the latter, no matter how much something might have hurt us.

But growth isn’t always about relationships between people or lost opportunities.

It can also be about choices you make for yourself.

There’s a sense of wearing new shoes with it. The old ones might be broken-in, and comfortable, but choosing a new pair is best for longevity and function.

We must take those leaps of change with a sense of improvement.

Again, today is today. You’re supposed to love your current moment, your current self. But there’s always room to keep growing.

We start as infants, relying on others to get through in a way where we don’t pull our own weight.

Then, as we grow up more, we grow out of that stage and become a bit more independent.

Finally, as adults, we can live for ourselves and help others.

In my own life, I’ve felt hindered by a chronic condition I can’t do much about.

It stopped some doors I thought were meant for me, but instead of letting it conquer my soul with crushing dominance, I pressed on by growing through it.

I will not lie. When I first found out I was sick, I didn’t want to believe it at all.

But I’m a better person today because I learned to live with it, and I understand I’m not fundamentally broken.

I didn’t choose this, so it isn’t something that’s my fault.

Sometimes I wonder about the meaning of everything, why God gave me this massive test.

But it’s my reality, and I must grow through it.

But health and medical conditions aren’t the only things we might face.

Our poor choices and ways we spend our time are also paramount to higher growth.

I’m not one to dictate how people should spend their time.

If someone wants to spend their time watching Netflix, more power to them.

We all need to relax.

In my own life, I grew up loving story-driven games, and some of my favorite stories are in that medium.

But for personal development, there are some things we must give up.

Gaming can enrich lives and bring new friends your way.

But I woke up one day, and it all wasn’t the same anymore.

Perhaps I had just outgrown the medium.

I still think some of the greatest stories ever told are found in gaming, but if something doesn’t serve you anymore, it’s okay to give it up to grow.

Writing stories has given me a kind of hope, and I want to give others what stories have done for me. I want to make someone feel something, show them things are conquerable with enough tenacity and drive. That good does triumph even if evil is so dastardly and dangerous.

I hope to write in such a way that a tear can be brought to someone’s eye, or that a heartwarming moment enriches their own life with my fiction.

Growth might even change things up a bit in your art form.

I don’t typically use Adobe products, often only licensing photos or something to that end.

Because of this, my plans to switch to a system with 40,000 libraries, retailers, and stores have been hindered. The entire process uses Adobe as a baseline, and their color spaces and print demands.

Learning this process is certainly doable, but it shows me growth takes time sometimes, not to mention I haven’t been the happiest with Adobe’s business practices. They’re adopting AI for many things, and sometimes they aren’t up front about what is AI and what isn’t, making it hard for artists to work in their chosen field.

It’s a matter of personal morals and having that extra reach.

But not being able to sell on Target.com isn’t the end of the world.

I must find that balance of growing enough to learn new platforms and where to draw the line.

Sometimes, it’s this careful process where you must read the fine print. Other times, it’s becoming a better artist despite the changing landscape of business and assets.

Personal feelings aside, growth is inevitable in life.

I’m happy to be who I am today and look forward to who I’ll become tomorrow.

Sometimes you wonder if you’ve been seeing things correctly all this time, or if it’s all your imagination.

Something, or Someone rather, tells me that’s not the case. I hope I’m right.

But keeping things in the correct perspective makes things easier. Sometimes we run and we’re not sure where to go. There is nothing else but forward.

Growing through things isn’t always easy, but it’s often the most rewarding thing to do. Never repeat the mistakes of yesterday in hopes of a better today and greater tomorrow.

Accept things as they are. Know that you’re valuable as you are today, but don’t be afraid to grow.

If you grow in knowledge, grace, and purpose, while keeping what makes you who you are, you’re heading in the right direction.

If you’re true to yourself in the current moment and allow yourself to move past the old things, the new things fit so much better.