The Cycle of Becoming : Growth Through Renewal

Original image by⁣ @mirenalos via Instgram

The Cycle of Becoming : Growth Through Renewal

I recently was sent a YouTube clip of Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski explaining the way a lobster sheds its shell. It offered a quiet reminder that growth often arrives disguised as discomfort. Stories have a way of doing that—threading themselves into our lives, waiting for the right moment to whisper their wisdom.⁣
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The lobster, a soft-bodied creature, lives within a rigid shell. That shell is its armour, its protection. But there’s a catch—the shell doesn’t grow. And so, as the lobster’s body expands, the once-comfortable shell becomes tight, restrictive. Pressure builds. It knows what must be done.⁣
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Instinctively, the lobster retreats beneath the rocks, hidden from predators, and sheds its shell. For days, even weeks, it remains exposed, vulnerable. The world outside hasn’t changed, but the lobster has. Slowly, a new shell forms—larger, stronger—until it can return, renewed. ⁣
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This cycle repeats throughout its life: grow, shed, rebuild.⁣
The discomfort, the pressure—these aren’t signs of failure. They are signals. Invitations to evolve. To release what no longer fits and step into something greater. It’s not easy. Shedding the familiar never is. But with trust in the process, we move forward, knowing that every stretch, every moment of vulnerability, is shaping us into something more expansive.⁣
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So wherever you find yourself today—on the edge of change, in the raw space between the old and the new, or settling into fresh strength—know that you are exactly where you need to be. Growth is happening. You are becoming. ⁣