Oh, She Different.
Can I have a moment of a hard truth? We get people in different seasons of their life. People get us in different seasons of our life.
I couldn't help but notice several circumstances that surrounded me recently. A friend who crossed my path from more than 10 years ago, reconnecting. Me witnessing a loved one embracing her grandmotherhood this go round from her first go round. Noticing a change in family relations and dynamics. And myself - who've evolved tremendously - since birthing a child I've noticed I'm in a different headspace from when I was single.
With maturation comes a new type of you, it's inevitable. You're still you - but you're a different type of you.
Maturity comes when:
We age
When hard times hit us
When we go through a difficult season
When we encounter a different vibe
When we go through life's milestones
... and so forth
So I couldn't help but notice certain opportunities recently that allowed me to reflect and shed some light on why and how we become "brand new".
I heard on a podcast recently that God knows that living life sanctifies us - or that it should sanctify us. It should allow us to grow wiser. In growing wiser we make better decisions. In making better decisions, we change the way we think. And in changing the way we think, we have had to encounter something that changed us.
So for an outsider to suggest we've changed since we've found a relationship with Christ, or getting married, or having a child, or getting your Master's degree, or (you fill in your blank) - this might be true. But it shouldn't be looked down upon.
Experience changes us. It's supposed to change us as we quietly move from one version of ourselves to the next. For so long I was so scared of changing as I felt I was losing myself. And in essence, I was. However the Bible talks about being a new creation. As a believer, our old is supposed to change anyway.
A long time ago someone shared "You may share the same parent, but the oldest may have gotten a version that you didn't get and vice versa." This alone opened my eyes.
Some key things to embracing shifting seasons for you and for others:
YOU continue to grow beautifully and gracefully
YOU should not try to downplay who you are for others and where they want you to be
YOU should not be remorseful for becoming wiser than you were
YOU should always mature up not down
YOU should not stand still to allow others to be comfortable
If someone experienced another version of you they are holding you to, put them on notice that you don't live there anymore
YOU should continue to love on others and show that you care in all seasons
YOU should acknowledge when others show this version of them don't need that version of you
YOU should acknowledge when people are growing on a different path than you
Those who truly love you and get you will embrace you - for who you were and for who you are now and for you who has yet to become.
Oh, she different? Certainly.