The Path of Spiritual Growth Ain't Always a Pretty One

Just a gentle reminder that sometimes spiritual growth, or any growth for that matter is not always cute.

Sometimes with all the beautiful images on social media and/or in other media channels of doing yoga on the beach, meditating on a cliff, being surrounded by various crystals and reading angel cards, it's easy to think that this is what growth (or at least the path to it) looks like.

These things aren't wrong by any means. I 100% have a picture of me both doing yoga on a beach meditating in a scenic location (hint: I'm not actually meditating since I'm posing for a picture) and I own both crystals and angel cards.

What I'm saying is that for many of us these aren't the defining moments that we look back on and we can see THAT is when growth was happening. Why? Because a lot of times growth isn't pretty.

It's often those painful moments when we find ourselves curled up in a ball crying our eyes out and we think there's no way we will be able to move through this yet we allow ourselves to feel whatever it is we need to feel ; it's those moments when we feel completely lost and confused about ourselves and our lives and we are praying for clarity; when we feel fear and anxiety consuming our bodies yet we take another step.

No, it's not always those eureka moments of clarity and inspiration. Those generally come after you've gone through some ugly shit and have gotten to the other side and those are your reward.

It doesn't always have to be painful and ugly and all the pretty stuff can certainly be tools on the path of growth and awareness but never discount the moments that bring us to our knees or the moments that people don't show us on social media. These are the moments we usually look back on after the storm has passed and we can see that the pain was not wrong; that it was there to teach us; to show us where we can learn to grow; learn to accept; and learn to love.