Seasons of Life: A Season of Growth
Growth is one of those seasons that doesn’t always announce itself.
Sometimes it arrives with a big moment—a marriage, a promotion, a new job, the birth of a child, or an accomplishment you’ve worked toward for years. Other times, growth comes from the moments we never would have chosen: losing a job, navigating a difficult season in a marriage, facing disappointment, or realizing it’s time to let go of something that once felt certain.
But most often, I think growth happens quietly.
It’s there in the background, gently unfolding as we learn, adjust, try something new, and discover strengths we didn’t know we had. Sometimes we don’t even recognize how much we’ve grown until we look back and realize we’re not quite the same person we were before.
Like so many seasons of life, growth ebbs and flows. There are times when it feels exciting and full of possibility, and others when it feels slow, uncomfortable, or even a little lonely. There are stretches when we’re actively reaching for something new, and others when the most important thing we can do is simply pay attention to what is already taking root.
I’ve thought about this a lot over the past couple of years.
After leaving my last corporate career role, I suddenly had something I hadn’t had much of for a very long time: space.
Space to think about what I wanted next. Space to learn new things. Space to create. And maybe most importantly, space to pay attention.
It hasn’t always been easy. Stepping away from a career that had been such a large part of my life meant letting go of some of the certainty and identity that came with it. There were moments of doubt, frustration, and wondering whether I was headed in the right direction.
But there has also been so much growth.
I’ve learned new skills and rediscovered old ones. I’ve stretched myself creatively. I’ve become more comfortable not having every answer. And through building Savoring the Seasons, I’ve discovered that starting something new doesn’t mean leaving everything from the past behind. So much of what I learned during my career came with me—I’m simply using it in a different way now.
Perhaps that has been one of the biggest lessons of this season: growth doesn’t always mean becoming someone new. Sometimes it means discovering more of who you already are.
And growth doesn’t need to be rushed.
Just as we can’t pull on a flower to make it bloom faster, there are seasons when we simply need to nurture what is beginning to grow—giving it time, attention, patience, and a little faith.
Looking back over these past couple of years, I can see changes that were almost impossible to notice while they were happening. Some came from choices I made. Others came from circumstances I had to learn to navigate. All of them have taught me something.
I’m still growing. I hope I always will be.
Because maybe growth isn’t a destination at all. Maybe it’s one of those seasons that continues to return throughout our lives, quietly reminding us that there is always something new to learn, something within us waiting to be strengthened, and another version of ourselves still taking root.
A Moment to Savor
Take a moment to look back at the past year or two. Where have you grown—even in ways you didn’t notice at the time?
Sometimes the growth worth celebrating is the kind that happened quietly.
Happy Savoring
Angeline