People often say that you should always stay true to yourself. And I understand what they mean. You shouldn\u2019t have to change who you are just to meet other people\u2019s expectations. But at the same time, I sometimes wonder: why should we remain exactly the same person throughout our entire lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not the same woman I was five years ago. In fact, I\u2019m not even exactly the same person I was a year ago. My life changes, my priorities change, and I change along with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some things I once thought would always be part of my life, I\u2019ve now let go of. Other things I never imagined would become important to me have found a huge place in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And maybe there\u2019s absolutely nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personal growth often sounds like something where you constantly have to add more. More confidence. More knowledge. More discipline. More goals to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019ve learned that sometimes growth actually means letting something go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An expectation that no longer fits who you are. A dream that once meant everything to you but no longer feels right. A version of yourself who spent years doing exactly what was expected of her. Or simply the idea that stopping means you have failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Letting go can be incredibly difficult, especially when something has been part of who you thought you were for such a long time. But afterwards, it can create space for something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That might be one of the things I love most about personal growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t have to look back negatively on something to acknowledge that it no longer fits your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A choice can have been the right one then and no longer be the right one today. A dream can make you happy for years and eventually change. People can have played an important role in your life without having to walk beside you forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One doesn\u2019t make the other any less real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything behind you has, in some way, contributed to who you are today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I definitely don\u2019t feel like I have completely figured myself out by now. I don\u2019t think that moment even exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes I know exactly what I want, and sometimes I have absolutely no idea. Sometimes I make a choice I fully believe in, and sometimes I discover along the way that I want to take a different direction after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, personal growth doesn\u2019t have to mean becoming a better version of myself every single day. More than anything, I want to keep moving closer to the version of myself that truly feels like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe that version will look different again five years from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I actually hope it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because staying true to yourself doesn\u2019t mean never changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It means giving yourself the freedom to change along with life, without losing sight of who you are deep down. \ud83d\udc97<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
People often say that you should always stay true to yourself. And I understand what they mean. You shouldn\u2019t have to change who you are just to meet other people\u2019s expectations. But at the same time, I sometimes wonder: why should we remain exactly the same person throughout our entire lives? I\u2019m not the same woman I was five\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-persoonlijke-groei"],"yoast_head":"\n