Personal Growth

In my personal opinion, you cannot have personal growth if you are unable to accept and respect another's viewpoint, keeping an open mind to change.

We all have an established belief system within ourselves, based on our environment, the way we were raised, and our own personal experiences. What we read and absorb, commit to memory, what creates strong feelings in us.

Unfortunately, the need to be right is part of human nature. As a result we refuse to listen and then actually hear and examine anything that is contrary to our own values or beliefs. We react with anger or hostility, or simply ignore new information, because we refuse to alter our perception.

This causes us to get stuck, to stagnate in our own egos. We can be critical of another's opinion, but become irate when our own is questioned.

Basically, it's being open minded, being able to defend your value system while changing it and growing as you learn more about the world around you and the people in it, that is necessary to personal growth.

Personal growth for me only happens when I extend myself beyond my boundaries of comfort - in that space of insecurity, hopelessness, suffering, and pain, and conversely - pride, ecstacy, greatness and the sublime. It only happens when you take risks, go beyond who you think you are and act against the sounding board of the world to discover your true self, what you are made of, and your limits today. It is sometimes hard to see yourself as you really are, and the world for what it truly is as the truth is always filtered through your ego.

Personal growth is well....personal. Everyone has their own goals or non-goals and thresholds of challenge to expand that comfort boundary. Thinking about it too much , as SpoiledPrincess has said, is counter productive in this growth. You just gotta do it - which is hard because you need a great deal of faith that you will be the better for it.

I try not to intellectualize such things as this but concentrate on what makes me excited about life and pursue those things. Passion. Those are my vehicles. It can be as simple as cooking the very best meal for friends, boxing at lunch or sketching. The vehicles are the things you do everyday and who you are everyday. It is not magic nor mysterious. Growth is also not something that you consciously set out to achieve but it is a by-product of living deliberately.

Beautiful! Thank you.


This too!

First: take responsibility for everything that you do and have done.

Second: be responsible for another being.