A Poem for Anyone Growing Through Pain

Growth through Pain

This morning, I want to share a poem I wrote. Writing has always been a kind of mirror for me—a way to capture ideas I want to remember. Almost like mantras for my own life. Maybe these words can become a mantra for you, too, or inspire you to write something of your own.

I heard a story once about the way that lobsters grow
Eventually their shell becomes too small and their bodies grow beyond their mold
So they hide beneath a rock somewhere safe all alone 
Then they push against their shelter and shatter the only home they’ve ever known
Left there unprotected, somehow knowing that a bigger shell will form

Try to imagine the pain you’d be in 
If you had to sit there and tear through your skin
Yet this creature it does this again and again
We are all this little lobster, the breaking is where we begin
Be patient, you are growing from within 

Because the pain that we feel, 
it doesn’t tell us the whole story
What if I had the faith that a new shell was forming
That this pain was happening for me
That surrender could have me soaring
That I am actually growing

That this skin that I bleed
Is making room for what I need
What if this isn’t even about me
That there’s something greater I just can’t see

There’s something greater I just can’t see
Let it happen so you can be free
So I can finally be me

Just let your heart sing
Be a blessing and you will be blessed 
Wear your heart outside your chest
Have faith in your story, there’s so much of it that’s left
You are being taken care of, you can let you mind rest 

And slowly you crawl out
You’re on the other side
You feel your new skin
It’s okay if you cry…

Salt water tears
Cause you’re the ocean inside
You have to feel to heal
It’s all a part of this ride

As I shatter my old shell
I have faith in Father Time
I have faith in the future both in yours and in mine

And when we meet again
My skin won’t look the same
I’ll look a little different
Cause there was growth inside my pain

Take a long, slow, deep breath in…

What if the very thing I’m resisting… is actually creating space for something new? Something better?

What if, in the future, I’ll look back and see that everything was perfectly designed for me?

Exhale.