Tension, Not Pain

Disclaimer: These photos have nothing to do with what’s on my heart today. I’m just cruisin’ with Fashion Friday in conjunction with a heart moment. 

Yesterday when I was in yoga, the instructor said something that really stuck out to me. As we were in a deep stretch, she said, “Remember, you want tension, not pain.” Yes, she was referring to the stretch we were doing, but doesn’t that refer to any type of growth we want to experience as well?

Bundled

We are called to step out of our comfort zone and stretch a little. We are called to create that tension, to gradually move into something bigger and different. It’s not about jumping from one place to another in one big, painful motion. When we walk in the tension, we allow God to use the process in order to get us where He desires us to be. He works in that process. It requires us to take the first step, then the second, and the third, and so on. Tension isn’t easy. Tension isn’t coasting along, but it’s not painful. It’s part of the process.

Daddy's Socks

Eventually, when you make it through the tension, you get to the place that would have been painful initially. You grow in time and in the steps it took to get there. Lessons are learned along the way. I’ve found that for me sometimes those first baby steps are the hardest when stepping out in faith. It seems like it would be easier to jump off the cliff rather than taking each individual step to the bottom–I’m pretty sure we all know how that would turn out, though. The tension in each step is a necessary piece. Tension, not pain.

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