
Going through cycles of change and growth are inevitable but they are not always welcomed by us. It could be said that the older we become the more resistant we become to change and the less patient that we are with ourselves. Children enjoy change and even look forward to it. When you speak to a child that is in the first grade and moving to the second, they are happy that they are graduating. They do not sit dwelling on the past and wondering what they could have done differently, they accept change as a cycle of life.
Growth is painful.
Change is painful.
But nothing is as painful
as staying stuck somewhere
that you do not belong.
N. R. Narayana Murthy
Growth and change are not always comfortable but if we embrace it I believe that we can move through these cycles gracefully and even begin to welcome change. We are currently going through changes on a global level, and any change that needs to take place on the planet starts with you, which is why you should always focus on yourself first. Below I have listed the benefits of change and growth.
Growth is the process of responding positively to change.
Paul Harvey
1. Healthier Relationships with Others
Acknowledging growth means that you can reflect on where you are and the person that you have become. You can then analyse the people who are around. We all grow at different rates, you cannot change others or enforce growth on them, but you can ensure that you do not allow people to obstruct your growth. If you notice that your friendship circle, or environment is not conducive to you continuing to grow then you will need to address that and make changes. Let go of relationships that no longer serve you, and embrace healthy relationships that match or raise your vibration.
2. Build a Better Relationship with Yourself
As you trust yourself and follow your intuition your relationship with yourself will begin to improve. We grow on different planes (mental, spiritual and physical) as we listen to our bodies we improve the relationship that we have with ourselves. If you constantly betray the messages from your heart, or do not follow your gut instinct, then the level of trust that you have will yourself will decrease, along with your self-esteem.
3. Become more Versatile
By accepting change you can remain versatile and flexible. This allows you to respond to life in the present rather than continually applying old programs that you have not acknowledged that you have grown. Growth is the natural order of things, if you are not growing and changing then it means that there is an area in your life that you have allowed to become stagnant. There is something that is not a true reflection of who you are. Take some time to list the areas of your life where you are not seeing any growth, and then begin to assess what changes you can implement.
4. Learn to Communicate your Truth
It is possible to be excellent at communication and yet never truly learn how to communicate your truth. For example giving a presentation to a group of people at work may not pose a challenge. Yet that same person may be terrified of telling their partner what they really want from the relationship, or speaking their authentic truth to their parents. This is why it is important to accept growth and change in all areas of life. In the same way that you have to work your way up in your career untill you can communicate clearly to a group, that growth and progression should be applied to relationships so that they change with us. If they do not change then we need to decide if it is a relationship that is worth keeping.
5. Build Durability
Growth helps to build durability because it means that you are moving and adapting to the times that you are in. We can look at social media and business for example, there are many businesses that frowned on social media and did not want to be involved with it. Yet over time thousands of businesses have seen that there are numerous benefits to social media and that they can reach many more people. If these businesses continued to resist then many of them would have become stagnant and they would not have experienced the same levels of growth. Of course there are many variations and this is not true for everyone, but I wanted to use this example to show that when we resist growing we miss out on what life has to offer us.
Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change.
Richard Branson
Change allows you to see that you are making progress. As you grow, the things around you should naturally change also, allow these changes to take place without resisting or judging them. Change can be beautiful.
As someone who’s afraid of confrontation, telling my truth is one of the biggest things I struggle with. I guess making that change does involve a bit of pain, one that I’m still learning how to face. Thanks for this post!
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Hi Stuart, you are welcome! Indeed, it is a process and something that many of us struggle with. Being conscious of the struggle is the first step towards changing it.
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