This past week has presented quite the challenges. Some good, and some just down right annoying. Challenged are like that though. Sometimes you can see the good in them and sometimes you just can’t. Like finding ants in my apartment, ick. But getting promoted at work; well…
Here’s the thing, I am excited for the opportunity. I have worked hard. So it’s nice to be acknowledged for that. But I’m also extremely nervous. Perhaps that’s the nature of “good” challenges though. If they don’t challenge you they don’t change you. And often for the better. This is definitely a challenge that will change me. Without going into too much detail, because it’s extremely hard and downright boring to explain what I do, I have been asked to take a more center role on an account that is often difficult to say the least. Quite frankly, there is just more responsibility. And while I’m not one to run from responsibility, I think it’s easy sometimes to get comfortable where you are at. And that’s exactly where I was at work. Comfortable. So I’m not going to lie, I was tempted to turn it down out of fear.
I have spent a lot of my life avoiding the uncomfortable. In fact, it’s no secret to those who know me that I don't tend to like change. I tend toward routine. So when I get into a space of knowing exactly what I’m doing I don’t want it to change. But I’m learning that life isn’t meant to be comfortable. In fact I think God prefers it that way.
Several years ago I was about to embark on a major life shift. And it was scary and exciting all at the same time. I was going after a dream but I also had so many hurdles to overcome. I remember clearly one day calling my mom from work in tears because I saw no way things were going to work out. I was smack dab in uncomfortable and I didn’t like it. I was willing to do the work required of me to follow my dream, but I just couldn’t see beyond the chaos. I couldn’t see beyond my fears. It was in that moment that my mom told me to “stop, and pray.” So right there, in a parking lot, admits tears and frustration we prayed. And then I picked myself up and went back to work. God did answer my prayer that day. In fact He did, literally a couple minutes later. But that was only the beginning of being uncomfortable. I would spend the next two years chasing a dream that left me both exhilarated and exhausted. I was out of my comfort zone almost daily. But, it taught me an amazing fact; that if there is only one constant in life it’s change and that more often then not change is going to be uncomfortable. Yet, it’s in that uncomfortable that we do the most growing.
So I am trying to see beyond the fear, running toward the things that scare me and make me nervous. Challenging myself daily. A little over a year ago I started my current job. And it’s been a whirlwind of daily trying to figure out what the heck I’m doing. While I have no idea where I will be in a few years, I’m learning to like the feeling of uncomfortable. I’m starting to see it as a sign of good things to come. But mostly I know God will show up in the most spectacular ways. And I just simply can’t wait to see what He has in store for me. All I need to remember is to stop, pray and then pick myself back up and keep moving.
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