Spring has sprung, and with it comes a harsh reminder—growth doesn’t always smell like fresh flowers. Sometimes, it stinks. Literally. March 20th arrived, and all I can smell outside is manure. There is so much discomfort for growth in this season.
It’s not the fresh blooming flowers or the sweet scent of a fresh rain, it’s poop. Manure to be exact.
Why Does It Smell Like Poop?
Earlier this month the farmers who tend the land surrounding our house dumped truck load after truck load of manure. This weekend they brought in special heavy machinery and loaded it into spreaders so it could cover the fields surrounding our house.
What Can You Do When Everything Stinks?
I know I’ve been through seasons like this before—literal and figurative. This probably happened last spring too, but this year, the stink is making me reflect on times in my life when everything felt just as overwhelming and inescapable. In an effort to grow, I’ve faced an immense amount of discomfort. Discomfort that feels just as overwhelming and unavoidable as the smell permeating my home. It’s poop again. Or at least that is all we can smell when we walk outside or if we make the mistake of opening our windows. I legit thought one of my kids had explosive diarrhea, when it was actually a waft of manure coming in through the bathroom vent.
Yuck. What to do when it’s poop again? Honestly nothing. There is nothing to be done. I start my mornings now by lighting every candle in the house. I walk on the treadmill instead of taking the dog out for a mid-day walk. There is nothing to be done. Dr. Google said farmers should wait 120 days before planting after manure is laid. I really hope it doesn’t take the smell that long to go away…that’s 3 months y’all.
The Discomfort for Growth
As terrible as it seems right now, I know the crops will be better for it. How often do we find ourselves in a season of stinkiness before we hit our stride in growth?
Cleaning Out Closets: A Personal Discomfort for Growth Metaphor
Last month, my family was bursting at the seams with physical clutter in our closets. Not only was it a pain to put away clothes but it also led to a lot of mental clutter for me in trying to help my family piece together what they needed to get ready, ever, single, morning.
Cleaning out closets in our household (I’m almost done with mine, months later), required removing everything and evaluating each piece of clothing. It was grueling and looking at the mess made my chest tight, but the result was worth it. We now have functional closets and everyone can find the clothes they are looking for when they need them.
I no longer get exasperated morning cries from my girls about not being able to find the “right pants” they want to wear for school. Even my husband, who recently moved to day work, can easily find uniforms daily that he used to need help sourcing twice a week. This season of our life was absolute poop in the efficiency department. It put far too much stress on me (being the finder of all things) and the family. Sorting through the mess made us better though. It was discomfort for growth that needed to happen.
As I sorted through the physical clutter in everyone’s closets, I realized I’d been holding onto some emotional clutter too—things I was carrying for others instead of making space for myself. Are you doing the same? If this resonates, I share more thoughts on that here.
Quick Fixes vs. True Growth
When stink is necessary for growth. Manure is natural and yields more fertile soil. Healthier soil. Soil that is able to retain water and has excellent microbial activity.
Fertilizer doesn’t smell quite as bad. It is actually a quicker process and concentrated, but may not improve soil health as effectively.
Shew. How many times in my life have I tried the quick and concentrated method instead of the stinky, slow method?
Lessons from Parenthood: The Tough Road to Growth
I think back to when my girls were toddlers just learning how to sleep on their own in big girl beds. I was convinced that if I just stood next to my daughter’s bed and held her hand long enough, she would fall asleep peacefully and I could go about my evening routine without being interrupted 10 times.
Fact. Standing by her bed and holding her hand actually complicated my evening routine. The more I comforted her, the longer the comfort cycle she needed. What started as a two minute hand hold turned into a twenty minute crying session whenever I tried to step away. It truly made me disdain bedtime. I would loath the nights that my husband was at work and I had to put this little monster to bed all on my own.
What she needed instead of the quick and concentrated method of growth, was the natural albeit stinky version. We both needed discomfort for growth. Every time she got out of bed, I had to put her back in bed without holding her hand or reacting to her emotions. It sucked. It down-right stunk when she came to me with tears in her eyes and wanted me to lay with her. As hard as it felt though, I knew it wasn’t something we could fast forward our way through if we actually wanted the beautiful peace of her sleeping in her own bed every night, all through the night.
Eventually the stink stopped stinking and she goes to bed now without a fight, although she does request that I “come check on her” before I go to bed. I always respond “of course I will.” It gives her comfort that matches my needs and that right there is prettier than any flower I’ve ever seen.
The Temptation of Shortcuts
Growth is messy. But in a world full of shortcuts, the stinky slow path is usually the one that leads to something real and sustainable.
Looking to lose weight? Try this 30 day diet that promises to help you lose 20 pounds.
Want to have more money? Buy this lotto ticket that could triple what you spent on it.
Is the book too long? Read SparkNotes and know what everybody else knows.
There’s risk associated with each shortcut, but people willingly pursue them because they don’t want to bear the months of stink. I love this devotional that talks about temptations of shortcuts.The hard process of growth that doesn’t get talked about enough. The 3 months of the manure working its magic on the soil to make it healthier and have a better capacity to fulfill its purpose.
I don’t know what current stink you are in my friend, but maybe it is part of your necessary path to true growth. Growth that is hard won and will set you up with the capacity you need to fulfill your purpose.
Your Glow-Up Is Coming: Endure Discomfort for Growth
It’s easy to see a person’s glow-up and desire it for yourself. It’s harder to smell the shit they have been through and want it wafting in your life for the next 3 months.
So wise woman, what discomfort are you willing to endure on your path to growth and living a full capacity version of your life?
Right now our fields filled with manure make it painful to walk outside, but I know that when the corn starts to grow I will love watching every minute of it. We will get to spend our summer cocooned in a privacy fence provided by God’s goodness.
It’s in these moments that I hope you hold tight to the summers of your life and remember all of the shit you went through to get there. If you’re in the shit right now, remember that you’ve come out glowing on the other side before and you will come out glowing again. Discomfort for growth is part of the process.
What’s Your Story?
Share with me below in the comments. What hard won growth have you gone through? How Think back to a time in your life when you had to endure discomfort before you saw real change. What did that season teach you?
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