Life's Growth Spurts

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The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are a few weeks into this brand-new year of 2023 ... Are you feeling a new Growth Spurt coming on? As our calendars flip into a new year, we cannot help but be bombarded with articles, commercials, and experts giving us new ways to think about or set our resolutions. Change our habits. Be a better person. Eat less sugar. Be more active. Save more money.

How often do we start something new with great intentions, only to slip back into our old habits? We all know how difficult improving ourselves can be. But maybe, we need to think about it differently.

Often our self-growth happens a little bit at a time. If you look back over your life, I bet you have had numerous occurrences of personal development into your better self. They may have started from resolutions or goal setting, or maybe they came about from maturing and becoming wiser. From understanding more about yourself and what you have gone through, from watching and experiencing others’ behavior and growth (or lack thereof).

Perhaps we can think of our ongoing self-improvement journey as a series of ‘growth spurts.’ At each one, we become a little bit more in touch with our values and the direction we want to be heading. For me, some of my growth spurts have happened around periods of restlessness. Where I knew something was amiss. I was not feeling good about where I was at the time – my mental state, my physical being, or my place in the world. I would wallow around, sometimes for a long time, before I could figure out what to do.

Sure, I tried resolutions, goal-setting, and changing habits. Only to have them go by the wayside rather quickly. What worked for me during these restless periods was a combination of stillness, acceptance, analyzing, and understanding. Letting myself first have moments of stillness. My daily meditation practice would allow space for whatever needed to come up. Over time I would begin to understand why I was feeling the way I was – hopefully objectively!

Journaling about what I discovered would start laying the groundwork for the acceptance, analysis, and understanding to kick in. Once I understood the what and whys, it became easier to adjust my path and thinking. A new growth spurt of my personal development would result as I discovered what I needed to do or who I needed to become. Eventually, my restlessness would ease, and more joy and happiness would result.

The process was rarely a flashing lightbulb to lead me in the right direction. But instead, it has been more of a series of little aha moments where I get glimpses of how I need to think, act, and behave. They allow me to live up to my values better. To align my thoughts, actions, and goals to propel me toward what makes me feel how I want to feel.

When you embark on your Zen journey this way, your personal growth and development have to expand naturally. You become more in tune with what is important in your life. And you become more open to all of the possibilities. Sometimes, things magically work out all on their own. Coincidence, fate, fortune, or destiny? The universe may have a way of nudging us along the right path when we are open to it!

As you enter this new year, ponder about your own growth spurts over your life. Are you ready for a new one? What can you do to propel yourself to become a better you this year?

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