“If I have to shrink to fit, it is not my life.”
Shrinking is subtle. It looks like biting your tongue in a conversation because you do not want to “make things awkward.” It looks like downplaying your dreams so you do not intimidate anyone. It looks like laughing off the comment that cut too deep, or dimming your joy so others will not feel insecure. Shrinking becomes second nature — and eventually, you forget what it feels like to stand at full height.
Here is the slap: if you have to shrink to stay, it was never your space to begin with.
Your life is not supposed to feel like a box you have to fit into. The rooms you belong in will never demand you fold yourself in half. The relationships that are real will never require you to dilute your truth. The opportunities meant for you will never ask you to trade your wholeness for acceptance.
Yes, standing tall risks being “too much.” It risks rejection and loss. But shrinking costs more — it costs you yourself. And no relationship, no job, no approval is worth that price.
So, the next time you feel yourself contorting to fit, pause. Ask: Am I shrinking to belong here, or am I expanding into where I actually belong? Because your Spirit was not born to be small. And anything that requires you to be less is not your life.
More Food For Thought:
Where am I currently shrinking myself just to stay accepted?
What has that shrinking cost me in energy, authenticity, and freedom?
What would it look like to stand tall — even if it means walking away from the wrong fit?
The right life will not ask you to shrink. It will demand that you rise.
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