Supposed To
We tether ourselves to so many things.
I have found my hands grasped so firmly to the many ‘mistakes’ I’ve committed, the times I’ve left the path of supposed-to… the path that brought me here.
This realization struck me that, as much as I’ve tried to cast off the expectations of others, there are so many supposed-tos still deeply embedded and ingrained.
Ideas that I’ve tethered myself to in a way that has resulted in almost imperceptible guilt and shame.
Imperceptible because I’d become so accustomed to carrying it, so used to the burden that I’d normalized it.
Until I consciously untethered myself and allowed the release.
I do not have to regret anything that has happened.
Not failed relationships.
Not the times I ignored my intuition.
Not the times that I didn’t use my voice.
Nor when I had to backtrack and start over.
And definitely not the family I’ve built.
I do not have to hold onto shame, sit in judgment of myself, or wish that things had been different.
I have not messed up.
I have not missed out.
I am learning and growing.
I am new.
I have worked hard on myself and have been transformed through all the seasons of change.
That bears repeating.
I have been transformed through and because of all the seasons and I will not fear the winter for it is an essential part of life, an essential component of growth and growing.
Life is growing my soul to its beautiful fulfillment and everything that I have gone through and experienced is part of what has made me strong, compassionate, and wise.
I do not regret the path that led me here or any of the discomfort, for it is all evidence that something new is unfolding within and I am becoming more and more who I was always meant to be.
As the caterpillar transitions to the butterfly, it may mourn the loss of its caterpillar ways.
It may question the process as it transforms to mush and experiences the necessary discomfort of becoming, but this is necessary to take on wings.
When you have wings you don’t should on them.
You fly.
Always,
Your Trusted Friend ❤︎
