Continuing our discussion of change, let’s look at growth.  Growth can mean a lot of things, referring to things getting bigger or making your circle larger.  But talking about growth from the perspective of expansiveness is key here.  Expansiveness means making things bigger, creating a larger platform—so the bigger the circle, the more opportunity for different perspective.  Under the premise of doing things differently, growth is what takes us to the next level.  It is what brings us from where we are to where we want to be.  In order to do things differently as discussed yesterday, we have to allow the space for things to be different.  That means creating an environment of expansiveness to allow the space needed.  Physical, mental, and emotional space are the three main things that will create opportunity in your life.

Physical space creates the framework, or physical limitation to what we can do and how we operate.  It’s often said that our external environment is a reflection of our internal environment.  So if we have constant clutter around us, mess, chaos, then chances are our thoughts are cluttered, messy, and chaotic.  I can vouch that is true.  Now, I don’t preach that we need hospital grade cleanliness around us—we don’t need sanitary to create—we simply need a space that matches our intention and what we want to do.  If our environment doesn’t allow that, then consider some changes.  Consider letting go of things that fit your old story but no longer match your new story.  Leave the old story behind.  It’s not about replacing anything, it’s about matching the life you say you want.  The universe can respond when we match the intention with the action. 

Mental space is a tricky one because clearing and creating mental space is a constant practice.  We have to train our thought process as carefully as anything else in our lives.  The truth is our mental capacity is limitless so, if you’re an anxious over thinker like me, it makes it challenging to maintain positive thoughts in that space consistently.  Mental space will fill up with whatever it’s fed whether positive or negative—that’s what it’s designed for.  It takes in information and you perceive it.  So when we don’t have constant stimulation, the brain will tell itself stories based on what we gave it.  The other side is how we respond to that information.  For example, if we think with fear, then we limit the outcomes.  When we restrict our thought process to one belief, we only see things from the perspective of that belief.  An idea is easier to change than a belief, so learn to cultivate ideas and allow them to flow.

Emotional space is also about flow.  We need to allow emotions to move through our bodies  in order to not get stuck where we are.  When we have engrained beliefs, we have feelings around them and the body reacts to them.  The body will store them exactly where they are and that will express in pain, disease, and even outburst of emotion.  We don’t need to attach an emotion to a belief because once we do that it becomes our identity.  If we allow the experience of the emotion, that is the space it needs to alert us to what’s happening but we don’t cling to it.  And as we expand our idea and belief system, as we understand the experiences of others, we allow the space for the perspective and emotion of others. 

Growth means letting go of the safety of what we know and moving forward into something different.  Whether it’s a different stage in your journey or more along the lines of expanding ourselves as we discussed today, it’s still different.  It’s going from what is known to what is unknown.  The plant emerges from the seed and through the dirt after putting down roots.  The same is said for us.  We can either stay in the shell, in the comfort of what we know, or we can allow ourselves the space and grace to bloom.  Not to add another cliché, but it’s true that growth and magic is always on the other side of our fear.  We instinctively know when it’s time to grow, to let go of old patterns.  The time comes when choosing to stay the same hurts more than venturing into the unknown.  Take the chance.