I recently read a Facebook post about outgrowing the image other people have of you and that you should never shrink back to fit their image again just to make them feel comfortable. In my haste of reading the quote the first time, I misread or possibly just jumped to my own interpretation of what the writer was intending to say. My mis-insight was that you can outgrow your own self-image. In mind I started thinking about the times when I actually start to feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I feel like I am bursting at the seams of my self and I need to change something. The advice to not shrink back, I believe, holds probably more truth in this scenario than in the intended message. To shrink back would mean a lost opportunity to further develop yourself, encounter new things, to live!
How often have you felt uneasy about where you are and what you are doing? Are you content and satisfied with your current position? This is always a tricky topic, because as a Christian, I am supposed to be content in all my circumstances. So how can I be content and still feel uncomfortable and desire change? Is that not a human characteristic to be striving for continuous improvement? Yes I believe it is and I believe that I can still be very happy in my current circumstances but at the same time have aspirations and goals of where I would like to be.
Back to outgrowing your self-image. If I stayed in my self-image that I had as a teenager, my life would be very different now and I would probably be one of those solitary 'Goth-types' lurking in the shadows of reality. Fortunately, as one experiences more of life and what truly matters, priorities and perspectives change and so does your self-image. How you fit into that perspective and what you are contributing will change your perception of your self-worth. Hopefully the experiences and your involvements are more 'image-growth' type events rather than 'image-diminishing' types. The advice to not shrink, encourages us to be contributors, to grow our self-image so that we do not devalue ourselves over time. There are enough people out there trying to do that for us, let's not add to their efforts. We are incredible beings that should be constantly appreciating in value.
When you feel that bursting at the seams feeling, it means you are getting ready to slough. Just as a snake sheds its skin to grow, so too must you shed your self-image skin to allow your growth.
