We are always changing and growing.

Like a lesson from the natural world, nothing ever stays the same. The seasons change, yet they are all necessary for the grand scheme of things.

Why do we change? Why can’t we just stay the same?

This would be easier and definitely a lot more comfortable. It would also be a lot less fun and fulfilling. Of course, if we really wanted to stubbornly stay the same people for our whole lives, we could try to cultivate the same habits and personality all the time. But that is not why we are here. We were born to grow and evolve into the people we are meant to be.

Every waking moment is a chance for us to grow and become more aligned with our values and our calling. How cool is that?

We all have experiences that shape us—families, relationships, systems, and art that provokes us and makes us break open into new realizations. We take all of these in and assemble how we view our reality. We are always moving, learning, and taking in new world-views, thoughts, and ideas that make up how we see our world. Each moment we can choose to view these new ideas and perceptions through our old lenses or ways of being, or we can choose to view them in a whole new way.

Life is all about how we see.

We can have the same situation and choose to see it in so many different ways. This will shape our lives. It will shape our present moments, how we react to experiences, treat others, and treat ourselves.

This is very important to consider.

We truly have the power to make our lives what we want them to be. A lot of the time, we have no control over external events, but we do have the choice with how we choose to view this event.

We can say to ourselves, “Why is this happing to me?” or we can try, “What is this showing me?” and “What can I learn from this?”

Perhaps think about a situation in your life and try asking these questions in relation to it. Notice how you feel when asking these questions. Notice how this changes from question to question and how you look at the situation from the various perspectives of the questions being asked.

When we choose to engage with the same situations in new ways, we will begin to slowly unfold into a new being. I think this is all the point of existence. We are all in the great school of life. We are here to have fun and to also learn from ourselves and others. If I am not constantly challenging my world views and ideas, then what am I doing? I cannot possibly know everything, and besides, everything there is to know is always changing—just look at Science. At one point, we believed in a Newtonian Universe and now we are experiencing a shift into a quantum one—amazing.

What will happen next for us? We cannot possibly know.

Yes, change is scary and difficult. We attach ourselves fully to our identity—our careers, jobs, and relationships. Now stop and think, “Who am I without all of these things?” Who are you without all of the external labels that you associate yourself with? All of these things will leave eventually. In death, we cannot bring any of these things with us. All we can bring is who we are, underneath all of the things that we think make up who we are.

I painted a sign recently that reads, “Who am I?” I plan to post it above my door in hopes that when I walk through my door each day I am constantly asking myself that question because the “me” I am is always changing each and every day.

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