SNAKE SKINS
One day last week I noticed something in the rocks near our house; something long and snakelike. It turned out to be a perfectly intact snake skin, with remnants of scales and ridges. A snake had outgrown it and left it as it moved into its new, bigger life.
I don’t claim to know the process a snake goes through to release itself from its skin. According to Google, as a snake grows, its skin expands only so much to accommodate and it is uncomfortable for the snake to stay in skin that is growing tight. Nature has built this periodic shedding into a snake’s life cycle. I have no doubt, however, that there was no drama on the part of the snake about embracing this next stage in its life. It didn’t agonize, or consider options to avoid letting go of something that no longer supported it. It didn’t worry what, if anything, would be underneath the too-small skin to cover its bones. It didn’t have anxiety about what other snakes might say. It just did what it needed to do to keep growing and didn’t look back. I am especially grateful for this last part, as the snake was nowhere to be found when I discovered the skin.
Wouldn’t life be easier for humans if we acquired the snake’s capacity to embrace change gracefully and let ourselves grow? How many times have we stubbornly continued on an unfulfilling path? How often do we ignore the inner voice that calls us to choose something different? Why are we so resistant to shedding a life that stunts us?
The unknown is scary and change requires us to deal with the unknown. This can be so scary that we keep repeating the same patterns because they are familiar. “Better the devil you know….”
But what if, for a minute, you choose to be present with both the discomfort and the potential of letting go of parts of life that are too small? Those parts that are constricting, that you know you have outgrown. Those parts whose only appeal is that they are familiar. Consider the opportunity cost of clinging to these parts. Just for today, allow yourself to explore what might be able to grow if you gave it space by shedding one thing that you have outgrown.
