Episode 091 | STRONG ENOUGH – How Deep Struggle Leads to Great Growth

Do struggle and growth go hand in hand? Listen in to discover how valuable it is to be bad at something.

“Anything Worth Doing…”

You may have heard it said that “anything worth doing, is worth doing right.” Well, we say that anything worth doing, is worth doing wrong.

Both Jenn and Jordan know what an internal struggle it is to not get something right the first time. We see the same tension rise in our kids when they just can’t handle a new task, and give up too easily for lack of trying.

This generation seems to nee a healthy dose of “doing it wrong,” and then getting back up to push through until it’s right (or at least… better).

We need to get comfortable with failure, and in that process, realize that little failures are not permanent. Just because you’re not good at something, doesn’t mean you don’t have the capacity to learn, or to try it again a different way!

Be the Chicken God Made You to Be

This is a reference to a joke we made in the episode, but the idea holds a candle to our need to make braver choices.

Many moms struggle with feeling like “enough” because they’re stuck in the same situation, having done very little to change. It’s risky to do anything new, because new things feel uncomfortable and unnatural, don’t they?

We talk to moms all the time who just don’t feel strong enough to make the changes they need to make in order to step in a new and healing direction. 

Why Struggle and Growth Can Be Great 

Jamie wanted to stop feeling tired and sluggish all the time. She wanted to have more energy to play with her kids and keep the house in order. She made the brave change to ditch her diet of carbs and sugar, and cleanse her body of those unnatural toxins. After a few weeks and battling intense cravings, her energy levels shot up (even without coffee!), and she could sustain herself much longer than before. She joined an accountability group on Facebook and made new friends who are living this lifestyle.

Kelly knew she needed to establish different routines with her kids and cleanup time, but she avoided the whining and fighting with them for so long. The playroom was an exploded mess every day, until she finally had enough. After some prayer and coaching with another mama, she led the kids through one cleanup sweep, and established new guidelines for their toys. She upheld the rules for a few days.. then weeks, then months until the kids understood the new expectation and kept their toys in order.

Samantha couldn’t understand why she wasn’t able to keep long-term friendships. Sure, she was a little sassy sometimes, but why wasn’t anyone reaching out to her lately? She became lonely, and started blaming others for her unhappiness. One day, she broke down in tears to a mom at her son’s school. This mom suggested that she see a therapist to work out some personal issues. Samantha talked through her insecurities and pride that kept her from being genuine and open with others because she had felt so rejected in the past. Now she has a small group of trusted friends who she can be honest with. They pray for each other often.

Mama, if you feel stuck in a hard place right now, be encouraged that this season will not last forever. Listen in to this episode and discover the unexpected blessings of struggle, and strategies you can use as a mom, and as a woman in progress.

TIME STAMPS

1:50 Struggle is inevitable

2:41 Anything worth doing…

3:56 Be the chicken

5:00 Mama chicken struggles

6:50 STEP 1

7:40 Good and Bad Pain

9:15 Breaking old cycles

11:20 Helping kids understand good and bad pain

15:15 STEP 2

19:30 Confidence through Breastfeeding

23:53 When we don’t lean in to struggle

25:40 Comfort food

26:40 Do Hard Things (book)

29:10 The art of precious scars

30:10 Grace + Imperfection + Hope

32:30 Pomodoro Technique

34:30 How Jordan is rewriting her narrative