#3 The Blueprint

There are many things I could say about the path to maturity. Maybe I will get a chance to say all of them, but today I want to give you the roadmap, the big-picture, the oversimplified version of how to truly grow in any area of your life. It’s simple, really. Try to look at it like this:

Acceptance + persistence = growth

What does this really mean? Let me explain. 

Acceptance means you are alright with who you are right now. You are not a loser because you’re a klutz. Just because you feel like you miss the mark time and time again does not make you a failure. Acceptance is believing that you’ll get there, no matter how long it takes. It’s choosing to not call yourself a loser or beat yourself up under any circumstances. 

Wait: any circumstances? Yes, any circumstances. It will make the growth process far easier. It may sound like delusion, but what’s the alternative? Believing you’ll fail? I’m not actually saying you should believe you are able to do anything, just that you can handle any situation. You should never tell yourself that you can’t find a way out of a situation that you find yourself in. Sometimes that means fixing the problem, other times it means retreating from it.

What I’m ultimately trying to say is that you are wise enough to get through the challenge before you. You’ll make mistakes and have no shortage of clumsy moments, but you need to believe that you can handle it. That’s true acceptance. When you refuse to doubt, even for a second, that you can handle what you’re going through, then it will be easy to stick with things. And as you learn to stick with the things you want to grow in, it will make the second part of this equation a lot easier.

It feels like I don’t even need to talk about this, but persistence is the ability to stick with something. I was thinking about this the other day. I worked in a team to complete a certain task. It was my first time doing it, so the first time I fumbled through it. It was a mess, and the whole thing got a little ugly. I was more than a little flustered at how much of a klutz I felt like, but resolved to push through the rest of the day.

And as I mentally prepped to repeat the task the second time, something magical happened: the task got easier! It seemed like I naturally understood what we were doing because we had done it before. Then I started to realize that I had not only done this task better, but other tasks within the field were getting easier. I think we do a lot of subconscious learning and adapting just by showing up. We learn how to walk, talk, and act around certain people. Certain jobs become easier as we get more familiar with all that we work with. And we even get better with things as we engage with them more and more. There’s a lot to be said for just showing up. 

And I know that this sounds like an oversimplification. It kind of is. I want to paint the big picture of how to journey from kid to adult. Obviously, breakthrough moments will need to happen. Lessons will need to be learned, and teachers will need to be sought out (more on this later.) But all of those things can’t happen if you up and bail, or try to learn about something solely from the outside. You have to get into the thick of things. And in order to do so, you must accept the clumsy oaf that you will be as you grow and develop. It’s a temporary stage, I promise, but you must embrace it in order to pass through it. Only then will you cross to the other side and find the jungle-king hidden inside of you.

I pray this post finds you well. I pray that you begin your own journey. That self-acceptance finds you, and that you find it in abundance, overflowing so gracefully that it pushes you into the arms of the unknown. You are born for greatness, you just have to accept yourself and dive in! I pray for you always.

And until next time

May Peace be your Guide.