What if there’s more?
This phrase has been echoing in my mind the past few months-
There’s more.
It’s so easy to get comfortably nestled in the rhythms of our daily lives. One month leads to one year leads to a decade. Comfortable… mostly, at least. Playing it safe. Going through the motions and doing the best we can- one day to the next. And you begin to wonder - is this it?
What if we were made to take up more space in this world? To expand?
Honestly, I’ve lived most of my life feeling small (figuratively speaking) and never quite good enough. When I look back, most of my twenties - a DECADE - were lived with such deep insecurities that gripped me to the core that I never thought I’d escape them. The negative scripts in my head were always played on repeat. This thinking kept me feeling weak on the inside and playing my life safe. Through a whole lot of Jesus and therapy in my thirties, thankfully, that load I used to carry around has drastically lightened.
I’m not where I used to be, and still I’m discovering - there’s more. There’s always more.
There’s this thought I’ve had lately around the idea of taking up space. What space do I take up in the world? What if I was created to take up more sacred space in this world? Space that no one else can. What if you were? I know it might sound cliche, but I truly believe there is a you-shaped hole in this world that no one else can occupy… and the cool thing? It grows.
Your rhythms, routines, relationships, projects and dreams evolve as time goes by. And they should.
A few years ago, I created a folder in my notes on my phone called Expansion. I began to permission myself to have dreams, ideas, and thoughts - some super random - and I would capture them here as they came to me in the course of my ordinary days. I knew they were meant to be written in my Expansion folder when they evoked a sense of courage, inspiration, boldness, bravery, joy and/or wonder.
When I say expansion, I picture the grinch -
Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then… the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!
I picture the woman in the Bible who was bleeding for twelve years and what she must have felt like after being miraculously healed when she touched Jesus’ cloak. Expansion. Growth. More space being occupied.
Expansion notes breed this faith-filled thought - “What if…?”
What if there’s more?
What if I’m meant to take this risk?
What if I looked at ____ from a different perspective?
What if you’re not done?
What if things could be different?
What if ____ (you fill in the blank).
One of my favorite quotes kindles this type of thinking -
You were not created to live small and safe. You were created to live fiercely and bravely.
The world is in desperate need of us to become. And then to keep becoming. To expand. To take up beautiful space, and in doing so, allowing others to feel safe to do the same. This is why you and I were created.
Whatever season you may find yourself in, I challenge you today to join me in exploring the space you are meant to take up in this world. To silence the self-limiting and God-limiting thoughts that keep you living small. To start your Expansion notes.
I’m confident in this - There’s more for you, my friend. There’s more.