What does growth look like?
It looks like openness. Just for a moment – open your hands, face up and palms out. Now look at your hands in their open position. That’s what growth looks like. It looks like open hands. Not closed, not clutched, not clinging to – but opened.
Growth looks like an openness to new things or new possibilities. In fact, growth can only happen when we open ourselves up. Opening ourselves up to our inner resources, to our transformative powers or to new possibilities, to assistance from others. All growth requires openness, like our open hands, so that change can be possible.
The growth posture is – openness, exposure, and not clinging, grasping, holding onto or gripping – but open hands.
You see when we’re open to new ideas, new perspectives, new outcomes, we can move from fear to peace, from clinging to old resentments to forgiveness, from clutched hands to an open mind.
But we must let go. We must let go of our fears, worries, resentments and doubts.
And letting go is not easy. Letting go of our own fears, resentments, doubts is not easy.
It reminds me of a story about a guy who was walking through the woods at night when it was dark. And he stepped off the path and fell off a cliff and quickly grabbed a branch that was there on the cliff. And so there he was – hanging on a cliff, at night, in the dark, all alone. And he was holding on to that branch for dear life. And so he calls out, yells out – is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me? I need help? Can anyone hear me? And then out of the darkness he hears a voice…. “Let Go!” “What? Are you crazy?” the guy replies. “I’m not going to let go. Who are you – I need help!” The voice from the dark calls back… “It is I… God… all you need to do is let go.” And the guy hangs there for a moment in the dark – in silence and yells back to God…”Is there anyone else up there?”
We all want to be transformed. We all want to become better versions of ourselves, we all want to be at peace, fulfilled, anger free – but we must be willing to let go. Let go of our fears, our resentments and our doubts. We must take on the posture of growth and open our hands, our minds and our hearts.
What does growth look like? It looks like – openness, open hands and open minds. Not clinging, not grasping, not gripping, not clutching but open.
So the question for us becomes – what are you holding onto right now in your life. What fears and resentments are you clinging to right now? What’s keeping you from accepting and allowing growth to happen in your life.
Are you holding onto the fear of rejection? The fear that keeps you from taking chances, fear that keeps you from opening up more in your relationships? Fear from trying something new at work? Fear from standing up for what you believe in public? What fears are you keeping you from growing and become the person you want to become?
What resentments are you clinging to? What resentments are keeping you from growing and becoming a better person? What resentments are keeping you from peace, forgiveness and acceptance?
What does growth look like? It looks like this – open hands and open minds.
By the way, if you’re looking for a good way meditate or to practice mindfulness that will help you grow. Perhaps when you begin your meditation or mindfulness practice, you could sit with your hands in an open position. Palms up. Open. Letting your meditation and mindfulness posture reflect externally what you hope to express internally – an openness to change and an openness to becoming a better version of yourself.
I have shared these ideas with a lot of people over the years and I have come to discover that many people (including myself) need help letting go. We can be like the guy in the story hanging on to the past and unwilling to let go. We might understand what we need to do, but we’re unable to get there alone – we get stuck. If you find yourself stuck – you’re not alone. Reach out. You don’t have to do it alone. And you may find that talking with someone is what you needed all along to grow and become the person you’ve always wanted to be.