Roots range from small, which are usually harmless, to thick and rooted deep in the ground. And sometimes, these deep roots can lift sidewalks or destroy the foundation of a home. When this happens, the tree has to be cut down and roots pulled out and cut to no longer cause damage.
To me, it's similar to my roots ~ my deep roots and my generation roots I have in my life. You see, sometimes we go through life making the same decisions that end up with the same results. In many cases that's not a problem, except when our decisions and results are unhealthy. It's not until we come to a place where we are tired of being tired, heartbroken, tired of being hurt and wanting something better. For me, I spent many years not understanding that my decisions were "rooted" from my past pains, childhood, heartache and trauma.
I was tired of the pain and desperately needed to make a change but had no idea where to start. I tried therapists - both individual and marriage; I read self-help books and attended groups. Yes, there was definitely growth. I did gain knowledge, but it still was not enough. I found myself living the same life.
What I discovered is I had to find the courage to dig deep and face my pain. Yikes!! Unpack Pandora's Box of my pain? This seemed extremely too scary to me. I was not ready to face this by myself, nor was I ready to do the work. So, it took more years to find more courage!
During this time, I began to develop my faith in God. Let me be completely transparent and say for me it was a slow process. For one, I was very stubborn and two, I had no trust in something I could not see. BUT I was not going to give up. After some years, my faith continued to develop, and I saw changes in myself and my life. My fears of trusting something I could not see began to dissipate and I gained a deeper relationship with God. I realized I AM not alone, and I learned how to receive and believe I AM more than a conqueror!! More years passed, my stubbornness lessened and my belief in God increased. Then one day my faith ushered me to open the lid of my Pandora's Box of pain - just the lid, but it is a start. God has compassion for me (and you) and is patient with us. So, I slowly opened my box, dealt with some pain, some roots that have hindered me all my life. Some roots were immediately pulled out while other roots are still being revealed and healed; however, NOW, I know who I AM and whose I AM!! I've learned to accept and love myself! And from that place, I can authentically and freely give grace, forgiveness and love to myself and others in my life! Now, I am a work in progress and still healing. Healing is not a race but a journey that I will probably be on for the rest of my days. What I can say with confidence is I have NOT arrived or finished, and most importantly, I am NOT in the same broken place I was years ago. My knowledge, plus faith and doing my work begets TRUE growth Whooo hoo!!
I realize we all have our own stories and each of our stories are as different as our fingerprints. What I have found is we all have roots that hinder us. I hope my story encourages you to discover what those roots are that hinder you so that you can live Intentionally free every day!!!