Growing...

Chapter 1

“Mud, I feel stuck in a deep puddle of mud.” He scrubbed his dishes in the sink.

“Oh come on, you're being dramatic.” She was clearing the table. 

“No, no I am being serious.” He stopped and looked at her. 

“You both are dramatic.” Their other friend said draped across the couch. 

“I am stuck in the same place I’ve been for the past two years. I need a new job, but have I found one? No. I am still working as a checkout person. I live here, which should sum up that one on its own. I have no idea what I want to do and I pretty much only spend time with you people. I mean, tell me I am not stuck.” He turned back to his sink where the water ran and the bubbles lay softly on the plate in his hand. 

“You're just in a…” She started to say but was cut off while she set a few more dishes next to the sink. 

“Do not say ‘growing season’”. He looked at her.

“What’s wrong with that?” Their friend strained her neck as she looked up at them both. They both looked at him, waiting. 

“Gosh there isn’t anything wrong with that, but that doesn’t help how I am feeling, because I feel like I have been ‘growing’ for a long time! And if I grow anymore… well I’ll need new pants because I grew out of everything just waiting.” He threw up his hands, flinging water everywhere. 

“Hey!” His friend next to him screeched. “Listen, you were there for me during my crisis last week on my floor so I will be supportive of you.”

“I am just here for the food.” Their friend on the couch lifted one arm and gave a thumbs up. 

Chapter 2 

A movie played at a low volume although no one paid much attention. The three sat in the living room talking. He was on his recliner chair while the other two sat on his couch. He felt a little like this was a therapy session, one that he needed at this moment. 

“You better be paying us for your free therapy.” One said as she adjusted her position from lying down to sitting up. How did she hear his thoughts? Spooky. 

“Yeah yeah, help me. My guy friends have terrible advice.” He popped his chair into a deep therapy position. He felt stuck, as he told his friends earlier. His life didn’t feel like it was evolving, he didn’t feel like he was on the path to an advanced level. He felt like he was playing the same game over and over again. Every day carried the same undertone which made him feel glued to this stage of life. And he wasn’t sure how to even describe how he felt. 

“Well?” They looked at him expectantly as they lounged on the couch. 

“Okay okay, you know how flowers have the part where they are in their little shells…” He started to explain. 

“You mean their bud?” One friend teased. 

“Yeah, right, that. Well they have their bud phase, then their flower phase, and then they die. I feel like I am in my flower phase. Nothing really happening and then one day I’m going to be gone and have nothing to show for it.” He added a sigh. Patching sarcasm over a feeling that he was very serious about. 

“You used a flower as an example? His friend who hasn’t left the couch since dinner lightly mocked. 

“It was the first thing that popped into my head, now give me all the girlhood wisdom.” He extended his arm in a “please enlighten me” kinda way. 

Chapter 3 

Silence took over the room. “Hm, let’s see, I think I understand where you are going with your analogy.” The other friend slowly shook her head to signal she was going to take this one. “You feel like your life is as good as it will be and that you won’t grow beyond what you already have, am I right?”

“Something like that.” He nodded. 

“Dude, you couldn’t be more wrong!” She elevated her voice. “I get it, sometimes we feel like we are in a rut, but come on, you have so much ahead of you, and beyond that, you have already grown, accomplished, and affected so much! Think about it, you feel like a flower that only has those three stages, but you affect the people who get to watch you grow and see your accomplishments, you get to be there for the bees and help support the ecosystem, and you will blow seeds into the wind and plant so many more beautiful flowers all over!” She looked excited while the other two looked at her a little confused.

“What?” Their other friend raised an eyebrow. 

“Translation?” He squinted his eyes.

“Your life, although, maybe you don’t see it, reflects onto so many people. Conversations that you have had with every single person that comes down your checkout line, your friends, and your family. They have all been touched by you whether you know it or not. And although you feel like you are in the mud, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t building a foundation for a future. To you, your life has felt mundane, but without you, so many gears would have been out of place making such a different outcome. You don’t have the life that you thought you would, but that doesn’t make your life unimportant, and just because you can’t see the growth that we all see, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” She opened her mouth to continue but was cut off.

“Yeah, like when you're around a kid all the time you don’t notice how fast they grow up, but when you have a long time in between seeing them, you don’t even recognize them. That is what it’s like. Your life is you being around the kid, but to everyone else, they see the growth, the steps taken.” They both looked at her shocked. “What, I have deep thoughts too.” She shrugged. 

“She’s right, there is so much growth and purpose in your life whether you notice or not and whether you use weird analogies or not. There isn’t a cut-off to stop striving to be who we want to be, but there also isn’t an end-all goal that we need to reach either. You're not stunted and you're not behind.” She melted back into the couch with her last words. 

Chapter 4

It is easy to miss seeing our growth and to focus on where we aren’t instead of being content with where we are and who we are striving to be. Not seeing the purpose of each stage of life we walk through is normal, but doesn’t mean we aren’t moving forward. As people say, life is short, but also it is long and can be full of so many amazing things if we choose to stop and look at them. If we open our eyes and see the progress we have already made.

This post took me a minute to write, but I think it is a good reminder to see how much our life affects others and how even if we at times don’t feel the growth, it is there and we are doing better than we think we are. Don’t forget to follow on Instagram, share The Allie-Way with someone, let me know what you think, and subscribe! Have an amazing weekend and thanks for reading Allie-Cats!

• Dru Allie