Sometimes I really wish growth would just happen in my comfort zone. That would be kind of amazing. Because it is a twofold sucky sort of experience to grow. Growth never feels good by itself, but to keep growing we have to put ourselves in positions that are even more uncomfortable.
So why do it?
Without growth, there is only death.
That’s pretty extreme. It is true though. The only way we can reach our dreams is if we grow towards them. There is nothing more sad than the death of a dream. It’s especially sad because we all have these seeds of growth within us called potential.
Just enough potential is planted within all of us so that we can experience a life of true fulfillment. Fulfillment is defined as achieving something desired. When we desire something we thirst for only that thing. Something else may possibly replace it and be easier to attain, but that thing will never do for our hearts what our true desire’s fulfillment will do.
As we age and change, so too do our desires. When I was 18 there was nothing I wanted more than to be on stage singing with my band. Touring the world, screaming like a maniac and having raving fans scream back at me from swirling mosh pits. I remember being on stage one time, screaming into the microphone, and realizing that I wasn’t the pissed off kid I used to be. I almost felt kind of silly in that moment, like that wasn’t who I was anymore.
I would have never had such realization had I never stepped foot on stage. I fulfilled that part of my life and had a blast doing it but I recognized that there were either new or simply recently uncovered desires within my heart; one being to get a college degree.
Why is it so sad when one person’s dream dies? Because it affects more than just that person. Belief spreads like fire. Hope spreads like fire. Possibility of massive success spreads like fire. So it is also true of disbelief, hopelessness, and thoughts of impossibility. One dream’s death results, sadly, in many dream’s deaths.
Imagine the person you love most… your child, mother, father, friend, whoever… and now imagine ripping the thing from their life that would bring them the greatest joy they’ve ever known. That is the contribution we are making to that person’s life when we aren’t growing in the direction of our own fulfillment.
I chose the above picture for this post because it shows the plants growing together.
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