New Experience
Did you ever look at something you did with new eyes or listen with new ears? What you wrote in someone’s high school year book may serve as a neat example. “Stay just the way you are” feels rather shallow compared to what you may write today.
We may now laugh or be shamefully embarrassed by the clothes we once wore or the ideological positions we once held but that was who we were then.
What happened between then and now?
Experience comes to mind.
We had new experiences that made us question our old views and served as a springboard towards growth.
Whoever said, “There is no substitute for experience” was a genius. Yet some people shield themselves from it. It’s usually some form of protectionism. They want to protect the status quo and not subject themselves to the reality that the world keeps evolving.
Go to any high school reunion. Notice the people who still embrace the faddish look they had back then. This is a surefire cue that what they wrote in your yearbook is probably the same thing they would write again today. These people are the easy examples.
Yet, we all have some sort of protectionism going on. They are called patterns.
We have patterned beliefs and behaviors on every topic. They run now just like they did the day they were formed. We haven’t evolved.
Patterns hate new experiences. Experience threatens their world and it threatens their life. Patterns glue you to more than an outdated hairdo. They freeze you in time to whomever you thought you were the day they started operating in your life.
This is not an invitation to get on an experience thrill ride. That just keeps you at the amusement park long after they close the doors, waiting for the sun to rise and the thrills to happen again. It’s a sugar high and keeps you going in loops.
Here’s a suggestion: Begin to notice what you resist. It’s your passport to evolution.
“What am I resisting?” is a great question to ask. Your answer will open the door to the experience that’s necessary for growth. It will be your challenge to step through.
Asking the question has the experience opportunity pick you, rather than you having to sift through all the available ones out there and being unsure as to what to pick.
Exploring your resistance gives you quite a bit of insight as to where you are stuck. Rather than doing an entire makeover, you can laser focus on the area that requires your attention. All it requires is asking the question and paying attention to what shows up.
Experience is what helps you outgrow the old way and grow into a new way. You may never find the experience you need to explore if you don’t know what you’re resisting.
You can either ask the question “What am I resisting?” or “Stay just the way you are.”
All the best,
John
http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan
http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301
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