Wellness

Change Vs. Growth

by Brett Goldstein

Change is a six-letter word with a meaning that will never hold true. Growth, on the other hand, is the fuel that will move mountains. All of the negatives and positives life has thrown at you are the building blocks of growth.

Change can be forced for any number of reasons. Growth, on the other hand, is self-motivated. Growth is real. Growth is everlasting.

Life is a puzzle, and there is no right or wrong way to solve it, but rather, your own way. We all have journeys that we travel, and along the way, we will encounter people and experiences we never imagined. These experiences will shape us and guide us moving forward. You can choose to learn from them and reflect upon them with the people closest to you, in order to interpret what they mean, or you can chock them up to mean nothing more than any other random event in your life.

Personally, I will always choose the first option. The ability to reflect upon what you have experienced, along with how and why you experienced it is the catalyst of growth. Growth will always come when you least expect it. To wait around for personal growth is futile.

You need to get out there and simply live. Make mistakes. Fall on your face more than once and learn from what you experience. Just like the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Insanity should be the definition of a failed attempt at change. Growth is repeating an action, looking your self in the mirror and recognizing that it didn’t work out with the first attempt.

Let’s switch our approach up. The ability to do this is by growth. As I write this passage and pass along all that I have experienced and learned, I reflect back on the moments when friends and family saw my failed attempts at change disguised as growth and immediately called me out.

Those that are closest to you and love you for who you are will always be the first to recognize the real you from the fake. The pressure to get to a certain point in your life and be a certain person can be daunting. You must always try your best to ignore those pressures.

There are no re-dos in life, just the next moment to correct your mistake. You can't change the past, but the future is yours to shape anyway you choose. Get out there and live everyday. Love with every ounce of your soul. For in the end, life will flash you by in a blink of an eye. Live and love everyday. When the game is over, and all is said and done, the opinion you have of yourself and the life you live is what will flood your mind. Make it a worth recalling. Make it a life others wish they experienced. Live. Life. Progress.

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