Are you perfectly satisfied with you life just the way it is? I didn't think so.
No matter how much we love what he have now, it is human nature to want to keep growing, changing, and improving.
But change is scary.
It pushes us past the boundaries of our old, safe, familiar selves.
It means finding the energy to grow rather than staying on cruise control and maintaining what we have.
Change may mean leaving old, beloved, known things behind for the possibility of new and better things ahead.
In a way, it is like death--we cast aside our old lives to embrace new and hopefully better lives.
To put it simply, growth is not for wimps.
So, how does one set about this process of death and rebirth? Know What You Want Everyone has wants or goals, though some of us have become discouraged and stopped naming the goals.
"It'll never happen," we say sadly, when we allow ourselves to think about it at all.
But if you can't admit what you want, how do you expect to get it? Take a few minutes now to list twenty-five things that you want.
They can be mundane ("I want to lose 10 pounds") or fantastical ("I want to own a castle in England").
Just acknowledging your wants to yourself may open up your eyes and mind to possibilities you would not have seen before.
Every six months, check off the "wants" you have achieved and add new ones.
This will show you how far you've come and encourage you to continue to grow.
Move Physics teaches us that an object at rest tends to remain at rest while an object in motion tends to remain in motion.
Be that object in motion.
This doesn't mean you need to take gigantic leaps forward every day.
Baby steps are just fine.
They are still motion.
If you're still not sure how to proceed, choose one item from your "wants" list.
Then list all the things you would have to do to make that "want" happen.
For instance, if you want to visit Athens, Greece, your steps might include saving money, looking into accommodations and travel arrangements, getting time off work, learning a few words of Greek, and finding a traveling companion or overcoming your fear of traveling alone.
Then break each of these steps into smaller steps and take one step each day toward your "want.
" (For instance, "Today I will give up my Starbucks coffee and put the three dollars I save into my travel fund.
" Or "Today I will order at least three tourism brochures.
") You can work on several "wants" at once, or one at a time.
It's up to you.
You are the architect of your own life.
Don't Be Afraid To Give And Receive Sometimes life simply hands us things, good and bad.
Whatever the universe throws at you, accept it and make it a part of your life.
I know a woman who was married twice.
Both husbands died from cancer.
Instead of crawling into bed and never moving again, as I would have been tempted to do, she started an organization to help people with cancer better understand their treatment options.
Hundreds have benefitted from her two losses.
Receive riches gracefully and gratefully, remembering that they are a gift and not an entitlement.
Give of yourself daily, whether it's a million dollars to the charity of your choice or a smile and a few soft words to a tired store clerk.
Growing means stretching beyond boundaries to occupy more space in our world.
Let's leave that space we occupy better than we found it.
Fight Frustration The first time Sarah Brightman opened her mouth, do you think she produced the clear, sweet soprano notes so many of us love today? Probably not.
The first time Hemingway put pen to paper, do you think he produced A Farewell to Arms or The Old Man and the Sea? No.
Growth takes learning and practice.
To be good at anything, you must first be willing to fail, frequently and often publicly.
Take the attitude of Thomas Edison, who, when he was inventing the light bulb, announced that he had not failed but had simply found multiple ways that didn't work; or the attitude of Margaret Mead who chided a reporter for asking about her "failed" marriages and informed him that she had had several successful marriages at different times in her life.
Every effort you make to try to improve yourself is taking you a step forward, whether you believe it or not.
Be Willing To Sacrifice In order to grow, we must also be willing to leave behind.
Leaving things behind is no small task.
We cling to what we have and mourn for what we have lost, even if the loss is ultimately in our best interests, like ending an abusive relationship or leaving a bad job.
But these steps must be taken, slowly perhaps, and certainly compassionately, but taken nonetheless.
Growing and changing is never easy.
But the alternative is stagnation which carries its own pains and heartaches.
Better to focus on becoming the person you want to be and working to make those changes than looking back in thirty years and thinking the saddest words in the English language, "Oh, how I wish I had...
"