Season 4 EP. 106 “ Is it time to expand your pot? (C2TC8 H.E.R. Circle)

Season 4 EP. 106 “ Is it time to expand your pot”      

( C2TC8 H.E.R. Circle )

What if the issue isn’t effort?

What if the issue isn’t discipline?

What if the issue isn’t consistency?

What if you’ve simply reached the limits of a container that once supported your growth?

As we continue Season 4: Walking the Garden, Madison Samone Chase invites listeners into a conversation about growth, expansion, capacity, and recognizing when a season may be asking for more room.

In a culture that often encourages us to work harder, push longer, and squeeze more out of ourselves, this episode challenges us to consider whether some seasons require expansion rather than exhaustion.

Through the lens of faith, personal growth, wellness, and intentional living, Madison explores how healthy growth sometimes requires us to acknowledge that what once fit may no longer fit the person we’re becoming.

This episode is for high-performing women, mothers, aunties, godmothers, single moms, dog moms, entrepreneurs, caregivers, and anyone navigating a season of growth, transition, stewardship, reinvention, and becoming.

As always, C2TC8 offers a PPT Audit, a SAC Challenge (Spontaneous Authentically Assertive Communication), 3 Keys 🔑, and 1 Reflection Question ❓ to help you pause for a cause, reflect, and carry the lesson with you long after listening.

30 New Episodes launch the 15th of every month for 15 days, with 2 episodes daily at 8AM and 8PM CST.

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If this episode pricked your heart or lit a spark, please follow, share it with someone you care about, leave a comment so this becomes a dialogue and not a monologue, and leave a five-star review.

And remember, there’s always grace in this space.

Blessings to You & Yours! Until tomorrow.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Season four. This episode is entitled, Is it Time to Expand Our Pot? Have you ever felt like you've done everything you possibly can, everything that you're supposed to do, yet our growth still feels like it's limited. We're showing up in all the right places, we're doing the work, we're being consistent, we're working smart, and we're remaining committed and disciplined, yet something feels constrained and restricted. Almost like we've reached the edge of what the current situation can hold for us. And many gardeners eventually discover that growth isn't always about more water. It's not always about more sunlight or fertilizer, and it's not always about trying harder or working smarter. Sometimes the plant has simply outgrown the container or the pot. And when roots no longer have room to expand and grow, eventually they slow. Not because the plant is unhealthy, and not because the plant has failed, and not because the seed isn't working, but because the environment that once supported growth can eventually begin to restrict it. Which made me wonder how often in life do we mistake limitation for failure when what we really need is more room? As we continue walking the garden, today we're exploring an important question. Is it time to expand our pot? Hey y'all, I am Madison Simone Chase, also known as Miss Chase. I was raised in church. And my great-grandmother, make she rest in peace, played the piano and I actually sang and made a joyful noise. Don't ask me to do it today because it would not be great. And my faith journey has always been at the center of who I am and who I'm purposed and called to be. And I am incredibly thankful to have been raised by a hardworking, sacrificial, high-performing, high-functioning single mother who remains my bestie, my biggest fan, and my forever BFF, my best friend for real. And honoring God through service and making my mama proud and using the gifts that the creator gave me has always been deeply important to me. And over the past several seasons of Cut to the Chase at 8, C2TC8, Her Circle, which stands for High Performing Empowered Women Who Are Ready to Thrive Circle, we've talked about awareness, detox, discernment, boundaries, and my favorite No More Nice series, which was exploring the difference between being nice and being kind, rebuilding and becoming. But as I entered this next season, this season, I found myself really thinking less about what needed to be removed and contemplating more about what needed to be cultivated. Because before a gardener plants anything for the next season, the gardener walks the garden and examines and takes inventory and notices what flourished, the gardener notices what struggled, it notices what produced fruit, the gardener notices what never took root, the gardener notices what needs pruning, and the gardener notices what has completed its purpose. And that's exactly what season four is all about. We are walking the garden together and taking an honest look at the people, places, and things in our lives, and not with judgment, not with condemnation, not with shame, but with wisdom and discernment. Because every person, every place, and everything produces fruit. And before we ask for a bigger harvest, a more bountiful harvest, we may need to take a closer look at our roots. So whether you are a high-functioning, high-performing mother, single mother, father, single father, caretaker, entrepreneur, aspiring entrepreneur, working a nine-to-five, juggling two or three jobs, quietly rebuilding, or simply trying to grow through life one season, one day, one minute, one second, one nanosecond at a time. This space and this circle is for you. It's for me, and it is for us. So if you're listening andor watching, pull up a real chair or a digital chair and grab yourself a cup of hot or cold herbal tea. And welcome to my cozy home of Cut to the Chase at 8C2TC8, Her Circle, standing for High Performing Empowered Women Who Are Ready to Thrive, a 15 minute micro learning moment for macro living transformations. And I am truly overjoyed that you are here. Now let's take one opening breath together for this episode. We're going to inhale for three, two, one, exhale for five, four, three, two, one. One of the most interesting things about potted plants is that a container can be both helpful and it could also be limiting. Like two things can exist at the same time. In the beginning, the pot provides protection. The pot provides structure. The pot provides support, a place for the roots to establish themselves. The container or the pot serves a purpose. But eventually, as the pot and the plant continue to grow, something changes. The roots continue growing, they expand, they stretch, they make room, they seek more room, they use the water and the sunlight, and over time, the very container that once supported growth can become the thing that restricts it. So the plant isn't broken, the roots aren't bad. The seed wasn't the problem. The water, the sunlight, the fertilizer, they weren't the problem. There simply isn't enough room. And I think many of us in life experience seasons like that. A season where we keep trying harder, working smarter, working longer hours, giving more, doing more, yet growth still feels limited. Not because we're not capable and not because we're not successful, but because we've reached the capacity of the current container or the pot that we are planted in. And sometimes the container can be a job. It can be a goal. Sometimes the container can be a mindset. Sometimes the container or the pot, it's a habit. Sometimes it's the self-talk that we tell ourselves that's not edifying. Sometimes it's a relationship, a romantic relationship, a work relationship, a group text relationship, a faith-based relationship. Sometimes it's an environment. Sometimes it's an identity that we've outgrown. Sometimes it's an identity that people still want to put on you. And here's what makes this difficult. The pot may not be bad. In fact, it may have been exactly what we needed for a season. But not every container is meant to hold us forever. See, the goal of the pot was never permanence, the goal was preparation. Sometimes growth requires expansion. Which brings me to the PPT audit people, places, and things. Let's start with the people. Ask yourself who in your life creates room for your growth? Ask yourself who in your life encourages you to expand. Who consistently supports my development? And who may be more comfortable with the version of me that requires less growth? Places. What environments bring out my best? And where do I feel challenged in healthy ways, in edifying ways, in ways that build me? And where do I feel stretched, supported, and encouraged? And where do I consistently feel confined and constricted? Things. What routines, responsibilities, commitments, beliefs, or expectations may no longer fit the season I'm entering? And what have I outgrown? And what may I need to expand? And what may need to be released and set free? Which brings me to the SAC Challenge, the spontaneous, authentically assertive communication. This week's SAC Challenge is to practice advocating for your growth and your voice and who you are. And so maybe it sounds like I need more room to grow. I like to explore new opportunities. I'm ready for a new challenge. I don't think this environment is supporting my growth anymore. Or perhaps thank you for your offering, but this season has served me well. But I think I'm ready for what's next. Because sometimes the hardest part of growth isn't recognizing we've outgrown the pot that we're planted in. Sometimes it is finding the courage to say it out loud. Because our growth often begins the moment we stop apologizing for needing more space and needing a new environment and needing a better environment. Which brings me to the three keys. Key number one, growth creates new needs. What supported us in one season may not fully support us in the next season. Key number two, outgrowing something doesn't mean it was wrong. Some containers or pots are designed for a season, not a lifetime. Key number three, expansion requires courage. Before growth becomes visible externally, it often requires internal permissions to grow beyond previous limits. Our one reflection question. Where in my life am I trying to grow bigger roots inside a pot I've already outgrown? That is the question. Today we explored a reality every gardener eventually faces. Healthy plants eventually need more room. Not because they're failing, and not because they're unhealthy, but because growth continues. And if we're not careful, we can spend years criticizing ourselves, allowing people to criticize us, allowing people to speak negative things over us, allowing people to say things that are not true about the season that we're moving into, and for being stuck when the real issue isn't effort, it's capacity. Sometimes the answer isn't working harder, or sometimes it's not working smarter. Sometimes the answer is creating more room. So this week, my offer to you is pay attention to areas of your life where growth feels constrained. And ask yourself, do I need more discipline or do I need more space? And the answer may surprise you. Because growth isn't always about becoming more. Sometimes it's about creating room for what has already become. The roots don't apologize for growing, the branches don't apologize for reaching. The leaves don't apologize for being present. The plant doesn't apologize for needing a larger container. It simply continues becoming what it was created to become. So as you move through this week, consider where you and I may have been asking ourselves to shrink in order to remain comfortable. And consider where we've been settling for containment when growth may be calling us for expansion. And then ask yourself: am I honoring who I was? Or am I making room for who I am becoming? Remember, healthy growth eventually requires healthy expansion. So before we go, let's revisit today's three keys. Key number one, growth creates new needs. Key number two, outgrowing something doesn't mean it was wrong. Key number three, expansion requires courage. And our one reflection question: where in my life am I trying to grow bigger roots inside a pot I've already outgrown? Take that question with you and sit with it this week. And pray about it and journal about it and see what comes up for you. See what comes to the surface. Because sometimes the next level of growth isn't waiting on more effort. Sometimes it's waiting on more room. So continue giving yourself lots of grace in this space. And if this episode pricked your heart or lit a spark, please subscribe and share this with someone you care about. And leave a comment or send a message so that this episode becomes a dialogue conversation and not a monologue. And if you feel led, please leave a five-star review so that we could continue to grow Cut to the Chase at 8, her circle for high-performing, empowered women who are ready to thrive community together to serve others. Until the next time, I am Madison Simone Chase, and this has been another episode of Cut to the Chase at 8, a 15-minute micro learning moment for macro living transformations. Blessings to human yours. Until tomorrow. Let's take our closing breath together. We're gonna inhale for three, two, one, exhale for five, four, three, two, one. And remember, healthy things eventually need room to grow.