Many years ago, I bought two small plants from the 99₵ Only Store during my lunch break. Once home, I placed the plants on top of the bookcase in my living room, next to the other plants. They seemed happy enough to join the others and thrived in their new environment. I watered them periodically, when the soil demanded. Over time they grew, not too much, but enough to notice.
Although my two plants seemed to love their new home, they eventually stopped growing. While their leaves were always green and vibrant, they remained relatively the same size for several years. I eventually transplanted both plants to bigger pots and guess what happened? They grew larger!
See my two little plants could only grow as large as the original pots would allow. Once I transferred them to larger pots they were free to grow. Not only did their leaves grow larger, there were even more leaves than there were before!
It’s been many years since I moved my dear greenlings to their new potted homes and the time has come to replant them once again.
You can learn a lot from plants.
Our lives are not much different from those of my little potted friends. You can only grow as large as your space allows.
When you remain in relationships that you have outgrown (romantic + otherwise) not only do you feel stuck, but your spirits shrinks as well. When you stay in a job that does not stimulate your mind, your confidence wilts a little everyday.
In order for you to continue to expand, you must create room in your life to grow. You might need to end the relationship, change careers, move out, step up, let go or get out of your own way.
Growing is not always painless, sometimes it hurts. There may be blood. You’ll always sweat. And you may shed a tear or two-thousand. Whatever you have to give is worth it.
Expansion is priceless.
You might lose some cash. You’ll probably shed some weight (literal + figurative). And you might even burn a few bridges. But don’t fret, the loss is small beans compared to the gain.
You will get the gig. Land the guy. Live your dreams. Regain your sanity. And meet yourself.
Make room to grow. (click to tweet)
This post is part of the “This is 40″blog series. Forty lessons. Forty weeks.