Today, I woke up, went downstairs and realized, my plant was gone. It died and I didn't even see it starting to die! "How did this happen?" I thought. This got me thinking...far too many people are not growing, but slowly dying!
Tony Robbins says, "If you're not growing, you're dying."
The funny thing is that oftentimes in life, we don't realize that something in our life is dead, until it's completely dead, and it's blatantly obvious that it's dead! (Like a job you should've left a while ago, or a relationship that you should've ended a while ago... you name it, most of us don't always notice these things!)
I recently bought and started reading Eckart Tolle's "The Power of Now". I'm not joking when I say that this book has helped me to find gratitude among "the muck and mire" of this pandemic. For, it's only in living for today, that you can truly achieve contentment. To be content, all the cards do not have to be in your favor, and everything doesn't have to be going right! It took me a while to learn that! (And, if I'm honest with myself, I'm still learning this.)
One of the reasons why I adore being an adjunct professor and learning and development professional is that I get the beautiful opportunity to watch people grow. But, sadly, sometimes, I watch people "die". There are people who refuse to better themselves, they stay in the same role for years, sometimes decades, never learning anything new, never doing anything to improve, never taking a risk. These people make a choice, to slowly "die"...
I sometimes see people who could've taken advantage of an employer-sponsored certification, free upskilling and retooling (again, through the Learning department), or continuing their education, but they got comfortable. And, in today's workplace, given VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) we cannot get comfortable in our roles, not even a little bit! Is anyone's job really secure?
As I write this article, I am approaching the 1-year anniversary of working from home every single day. Now, I do not wish to complain as I have a job and my health, when so many have lost loved ones to COVID and have gone through complete devastation. Yet, as a huge extrovert and someone who desperately needs people in her life, this has been the toughest year that I've ever faced (many might say the same)!
What's kept me afloat is the act of growing? I have learned, sometimes against my own will, to work through my tears, my pain, my grief...to be resilient. I have learned new hobbies such as podcasting and rediscovered my love for making a nice, home cooked meal (albeit, from a meal kit with a recipe included). I have also relearned how to have a really good phone call, the kind that lasts over an hour and you go through all of the emotions (yes, remember those days of long phone calls?).
So, my friends, and peers, I ask you, "Are you growing, or are you dying?"
In the words of psychologist, Marisa Franco, "you can find joy in suffering."
I hope you'll consider finding joy! Remember, "after winter, must come Spring, change, it comes eventually..."
Comments