Nothing stays the same. No matter how hard you try and how tightly you hold on, things are going to flow. They’re going to change. And if you put the right belief, intention, dreaming, and elbow grease in…they’ll expand.

Life will get bigger. You will get bigger. But as you do—as you expand—all the feelings that accompany that expansion might feel like crap. Like real, WTF am I doing and do I actually have this all wrong, crap. I got a call from one of the girls that went something along the lines of: win, win, win, win. There was a promotion (a big one), a major speaking opp, some big press, and oh yes blinding courage because she finally saw the light. All at once. All in the span of a few weeks.

And all of it was good. So good. So bright. Stuff that we’d been lighting up Oprah candles and making wishes for during the past few months. Then why, she wondered, did it all feel so stressful?

Because… expansion feels overwhelming. And she was expanding.

Here’s what happens when your soul is cracking open a bit. When you’re moving into the bigger life being created for you. When you’re leveling up. When you’re becoming more….

It feels impossible. It feels unknown. You tell yourself you can’t handle it all. You’re convinced that you have no idea what you’re doing. You second guess all your decisions. You judge yourself for feeling scared.

But what’s really going on is you’re being forced to grow to meet the size of your dreams. You’re being called to expand into the space life has opened up for you. You’re breaking open so that brilliant light from within can be seen.

And the bigger life gets, the bigger the dream, the bigger the you—the bigger the “problems” might be.

In my most recent tizzy of anxiety and stress, I had a massive wake up call…that problem I was facing was actually a great thing. Because if I hadn’t been operating in the level situation I was operating in, I never would have had this type of problem to begin with. Ding Ding Ding! Perspective. As you expand, your problems will too. It’s basically a right of passage.

So remember these, will ya?

1. Know that your uncomfortable feelings are a sign of expansion. Celebrate that fact. Life is getting bigger and so are you.
2. Notice the size of your problems. They’ll correlate to the size of your dreams.
3. Don’t let the fear keep you from growing. Push through. You’ll like where you end up.

Smallness might feel better. Bigness might look better. But in between those two stages is the demand to expand. Realize what’s going on and always push to be the biggest and best version of yourself that you can possibly be.

Plus, see how beautiful your cracks can be?

E X P A N S I O N. I’m going to remember this artistic genius the next time I’m feeling hesitant and uncomfortable and like my chest might split from the pressure of figuring it out. But that’s what’s needed in order to be more than the world says we can be and to take up far more space than anyone said was acceptable. Expanding. This sculpture says it all. And also…can we get this back out for the public to see?? The artistic goddess of this sculpture @paigebradleysculpture started a petition to get it permanently placed back out in Brooklyn. ✨linked in profile if you’re as inclined as me✨ #art #beauty #wcw #shine

A photo posted by Maxie McCoy (@maxiemccoy) on Aug 31, 2016 at 7:56pm PDT