Allow Events to Change You

Week one is done and it was much more difficult than I ever imagined. This past week I took one of the suggestions from Bruce Mau's "Incomplete Manifesto for Growth" and tried to incorporate it into my life and observe the results of doing so.

"Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them."

For the first few days, I repeated to myself, "allow events to change you, allow events to change you." I noticed that I had changed the mantra to "be open to new events, be open to new events." A bit of a difference. I was looking, even searching for, new events or new opportunities to take advantage of and incorporate the tons of positive influence into my life. Although I did try a few new things and met several new people last week, nothing earth-shattering new occurred in my life. I was disappointed. I was poised to "accept it." I missed the point.

Let's get back to "allow events to change you." It isn't necessarily a new event or situation. It is being present in everyday tasks and familiar situations and experience a bit more out of them. I think that is how events may change me. I met new people in the course of my week, I heard some new ideas and I believe I made some new friends or at least new acquaintances. People, and their ideas, often inspire me or alter how I currently see things. So that part worked. I also was less intimidated by new situations since I was searching for a "changing event." I found myself more open and as a result more approachable. I noticed that I had bursts of extreme positivity and two days of amazing energy levels which resulted in very productive days.

By Friday, however, I was tired. I think I may have been trying too hard. I was running in every direction looking for something new, novel, change enhancing that I forgot to pace myself. I also lost sight, as I mentioned before, for the ordinary, which as I now type this, may have more affect on me that some big new experience. I also felt uneasy. Change is uncomfortable, unfamiliar.

Overall, the event that had the most impact on me last week was deciding to attempt to live this suggestion. It helped me focus, to me more aware, to be more open, to be searching. Have I noticed a life altering impact? No. Or at least not yet. The nice part is since I now have clarified the objective, be open to change, not necessarily something new (although I'm sure that would work too), I think this may be a mantra I will keep. I suspect over time, allowing events to change me will have an enormous, positive impact.

This week I will focus on: "Forget about good. Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth."