Growing Pains

When I received my promotion at work, I knew it was going to be a challenge. I knew that more hours, more complex projects, and the demands of my communications class meant that it would be no walk in the park. But I quickly realized once I got up at 7:30 Monday morning for work how unprepared I really was.

Monday hit me like a ton of bricks. At work, I had been hit with complex analyses to complete for a major project for my new, very unfamiliar client. We were on a very strict timeline and my new team leads had a philosophy of “pick it up as you go”. What’s more, I had almost no experience with the components needed and so my analysis was sent back multiple times over the week. At one point, one of my team leads mentioned a pay review… and not in a good way. Not a good first week for me.

Class was actually my relief Monday, and all of this week for that matter. Although school added pressure as well, I welcomed not being at my desk slamming my head against the wall. I actually even learned a few things about myself while in class. It wasn’t all fun, though. Added to my workload for the week were two communication outlines, a two-page memo, and a 5-minute presentation. Awesome.

If all this wasn’t enough, my brother needed a place to stay for the weekend so he could attend a convention in town. Unfortunately, his disorganization and lack of communication caused nothing but stress and frustration, heaping even more on my plate. Just what I needed, right?

So, why do you care about my problems? You have equal or bigger problems of your own, right? Well, I want to give you comfort. I realize now that I can attribute this insanely stressful week to growing pains. I was in unfamiliar territory, and had a lot to digest in a little bit of time. Was I stressed? Yes. Was there a lot of pressure? Yup. But did I make it to Friday? Sure did.

This wasn’t a week where I had to come out on top, exceeding expectations. All I needed to do this week was survive. And I made it–mentally battered, stressed, and abused–but I’m alive. There were points where I doubted myself, exploded, and wondered if I took on too much. At those points, I only had God to lean on. But it’s at these times where we learn, mature, and grow. These are the experiences in life where we need to solidify our commitments to success. These weeks are the make-or-break times in our lives which force us to choose to either endure or quit. I chose to endure.

I once heard that you need to apply intense heat and pressure to form diamonds or to bend steel into its desired shape. Likewise, God uses this intense heat and pressure to make us the best we can be. So for those out there whose week absolutely sucked, and who barely made it: Congratulations. You have another notch to add to your belt, another battle scar to add to the collection.You have passed another test, and there will be many more like it on the road to success.

After all, you can’t have the testimony without the test, right?