Environment shifts Expectations

Sometimes in order to shift our mindset of who we are becoming we have to shift the environment that is telling us who we are. Living in the same place with the same people our whole life limits us not only to the knowledge of people around us but to the growth of people around us. When we shift our environment we shift our expectations. If we live our every day lives to trying to meet the expectations of the people around us our identity becomes limited to the expectations of those people. So, many times we are comforted by the unsaid and unmet expectations of people in our environment because it is what we know. There isn't a place for growth because both you and I have grown comfortable with who we are. Then a part of our identity becomes attached to the perception of the people you've known so well, and you become trapped in a place wanting to grow but also not wanting to disrupt the habitual lives of other people. A place where you want to grow but the environment doesn't have the necessary conditions to allow comfortable growth.

Its like repotting a plant. When the roots grow too large for the small pot the roots have to compete to survive and the plant starts to die. But when you repot it and add a little dirt it allows the roots to continue soaking up the nutrients necessary to survive. Sometimes we need to be repotted and it's not comfortable in the moment - it will be messy, dirty and some roots might get lost in the process but its what's needed for sustainable growth.

Here's the thing though - growth will never be comfortable. So...

1. We can't sit around waiting for growth to be comfortable and 2. We can't settle for less because we are prioritizing someone else's comfort over our own. Especially at the expense of our own growth.

A shift in environment weather that be the people around you or the place you live can give a free space for growth. As I moved from one small town to another I found myself experiencing this. When we re-enter old environments it evokes old habits and rekindles your previous identity. Sometimes that shift makes me feel that I am a fraud or trying to be two separate people. Questions roll though my subconscious mind... Am I embarrassed by the newer better version of me that allowed growth? Am I not who I really think I am? Do I think I am better than these people? No. The answer is no. The old habits and old identity surface in old environments. The place you were in remained unchanged so your brain thinks it needs to remain unchanged. Because the environment and the people are the same you aren't comfortable in your growth. You are reminded of the discomfort in growth and end up sinking back into that old identity. And it's honestly because you don't want to disturb the unchanged environment you once called home. It's okay to be replanted. It's okay to grow.