The Shedding

Shedding is a natural process required for growth. We see it in nature all the time. Animals shed. Insects shed. And in our own way, we do too.

We shed things in order to grow, to develop into something new that our current state won’t allow. Sometimes what we’re holding onto becomes a restriction. So we have to let it go in order to move forward and become who we’re meant to be.

When I was going through my own shedding season, I didn’t see it as something beneficial. I saw it as punishment. Period.

Punishment for what, I wasn’t even sure. I remember praying and asking God to reveal whatever I had done that was so bad to deserve the painful, heartbreaking trials I had been facing for years. The answer didn’t come immediately, but time revealed what I couldn’t see in the moment.

I had lost an amazing job. I began losing close friends. I even lost old ways of thinking and doing things. The same ways that had helped me before and that I believed I still needed.

But the truth was, everything I needed was no longer in my past. Everything I needed was ahead of me.

Holding onto old mindsets, old patterns, and old versions of myself was only keeping me from the very things I had prayed for.

So when you’re in your prayer closet, on your knees or however you connect with God, be mindful of what you’re asking for. Because it’s not just about receiving the blessing, it’s about enduring the process that comes with it.

That’s the part I didn’t pray for.

I asked for new things, and God granted my requests. But I didn’t ask for the strength to handle how it would feel when the old things had to be shed.

And during that process, you’re tender. Raw. Exposed.

You have to be careful not to go back to what you’re being pulled away from, simply because it’s familiar.

At the time, I didn’t fully recognize what was happening. And truthfully, I still feel like I’m always shedding something. Some version of myself that I no longer connect with.

I’ve written before about how my boys told me I had become “soft” as a parent. But that hardness? That was something I had to shed after praying and asking God to make me a better mother.

And I wouldn’t change any of it.

Not what I’ve gone through, and not what’s still to come, as long as it continues to align with the woman I’m becoming.

How to Navigate The Shedding

If you find yourself in a shedding season, here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Stop labeling it as punishment
Everything that hurts isn’t meant to break you. Sometimes it’s reshaping you. Shift the question from “Why is this happening to me?” to “What is this growing in me?”

2. Let go of what no longer fits
Just because it worked before doesn’t mean it belongs now. People, habits, and mindsets can all expire in a new season. Honor what it was, but don’t force it to be what it isn’t anymore.

3. Protect yourself while you’re becoming
Shedding leaves you tender. You’re in between versions of yourself, and everything doesn’t deserve access to you in that space. Be intentional about what and who you allow around you.So let me ask you…

Have you ever gone through a shedding season? And if so, how did it make you better?