G-Force: Why Growth Comes With Its Own Gravity

For me, the end of summer always feels a little like New Year's — back to school, early morning seminary starting up again, and the whole waterfall of schedule adjustments that come with it. This year, I'd also been learning a lot about Wise Woman Check-In time and living more soulfully aligned, so I built myself a new schedule to help us transition into the season well.

I sat down, created it, implemented it, and honestly? I've loved most of the fruits it's produced. But a couple of nights, I noticed a heaviness settle into my heart — an anxiety I couldn't quite name and couldn't shake. Then one morning, I woke up with a heavy sense of doubt and unsettledness. It was physical — a feeling of being uprooted, anxious — and I didn't want it to sabotage my day.

So, I did what I always do when I recognize I'm somewhere I don't want to be: I worked my steps back up from the low brain, starting with awareness. I sat down to journal, trying to put words to what I was feeling.

And clarity came: what I was dealing with was simply fear. As I sat with it, I realized it connects to a couple of laws — one physical, one spiritual, running in parallel.

The physical law is Newton's Third: for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. The spiritual echo is in 2 Nephi 2:11, where Lehi teaches that there must needs be opposition in all things. Put together, these laws told me something important: the positive momentum of my own growth and becoming has an equal and opposite force pushing back. That fear was simply the resistance to the change happening inside me.

The brain doesn't like change — none of us are surprised by that. But it's sneaky in how it stages the resistance. Even though I loved my new schedule and had found it easy to stick with, my brain was subconsciously sabotaging me with feelings of anxiety and fear.

The G-Force / Growth Force

This summer, on a road trip to Utah, my son and I listened to Project Hail Mary (highly recommend it for any family) — and my brain has been steeped in space metaphors ever since. As I sat with these sensations, a thought landed: the heaviness in my heart was just like the G-force astronauts feel at launch.

I'm working to launch into a higher, holier orbit through this season of change and growth — and I was literally feeling a physical force weighing down on my heart, just like the force astronauts train for and learn to endure.

And then the wordsmith in me lit up: the G-force was just my growth force. Equal and opposite, pushing back against the positive, forward motion I was making.

Why This Matters for You

I wanted to share this because growth journeys are full of unexpected hiccups — self-sabotage, relationship resistance, discouraging experiences we can't quite explain. It's so easy to slide into all-or-nothing thinking in these moments. See if any of these sound familiar:

• "Because I'm having this moment of resistance, the growth I'm trying isn't working at all."
• "I'm clearly not good enough to make this work."
• "There's clearly not enough support in my relationship to make this sustainable."
• "I must not have made any real progress."
• "This new system isn't worth it because of this negative effect."

Every one of these is a distortion. D&C 45:57 — one of my favorite scriptures — reminds us that as wise men and women we're meant to receive truth, take the Holy Spirit as our guide, and not be deceived. A little education and preparation helps us discern what's true from what's deception.

It helped so much to realize the resistance I felt wasn't something I was doing wrong — it's just a law of nature. When you experience positive growth, you will also experience resistance. For me, that showed up as fear and doubt. Those feelings don't need to stick around, and they definitely don't need to lead.

I don't have to believe them or give them a seat at the table. I just hold them with curiosity, and let them go. That morning, once I recognized the G-force for what it was — a normal part of nature — it became so much easier to sit with it, hold it, and let it pass without shame, guilt, or residual frustration. It didn't sabotage my day. If anything, it fueled me, because the weight I felt was evidence that the changes I was making were actually working. They were moving me forward.

I'm guessing you want that forward movement too. I hope this little share plants a seed and helps you recognize some of the sensations and thoughts you might feel as you work on your own growth — in your life and in your relationships.

Join Us

Now that September is here with its back-to-school energy and change in seasons, if you want more support pushing through the stuck points in your life and relationships — more clarity in your identity and purpose — consider joining one of our growth groups, starting in October. Research shows community really does propel growth, and group coaching is remarkably effective at helping us see and make the changes we want.

Check out the offerings at www.growinthelight.com.

And in the meantime — remember that growth comes by small and simple things, in the way we choose each day to live in the light, to love from the light, and to draw others to the light.