Growth Cycles

[esn]

This article caught my eye: Jenn Reese

Apparently growth cycles apply to business, hair, biorythms, fruit trees, babies, and just about everything.
Does that include personal development ?
Is it possible to induce (personal)growth (every day in every way I am getting better and better) ? Often I feel as though I am running in place(chrysalis), and then something happens(awakening). Could that something be an un-named growth cycle ?

Parenthetically(best wishes),
Eric

[SamBeaven]

Hey Eric,

Sounds a little bit like what George Leonard talked about in Mastery - going from a plateau to a growth spurt and back onto a plateau for a while. Also a bit like your chrysalis analogy.

[RT Wolf]

Yea, Steve wrote a blog post on it early on. And I've heard David Allen mentiont it, too. We go through phases of expansion and contraction. During the expansion phase we're donig a lot, meeting new people and in the contraction phase we're meditating more, finishing up loose ends.

Perhaps you or someone else can find the blog post, I don't hav the time.

[esn]

Sam,

Thanks for the link to Mastery.
What did you learn from it ?

Akido is unique. I would like to learn it. Are there Akido tournaments ? (I read there were none or very few and wonder why).

Best Wishes,
Eric

[SamBeaven]

Hey esn,

The most important thing I learnt from the book was what I posted above, but Leonard goes into lots of other little points, explaining the different ways people view plateaus, things that signify that you're entering a growth spurt, growing pains and a great chapter on how to love the plateau. It's a great book all around that my brother leant me a while ago, right when I was starting to get into personal development. And while he frequently uses Aikido metaphors since that's his main sphere of influence, he talks about the experiences of writers and artists and managers and all sorts of people that he's interviewed on the topic over the years.

Great book all around, and I highly recommend it.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about the inner workings of Aikido, so I can't help you there. But I agree it's definitely interesting, especially with the usage of Ki.

[AndyMartin]

Seems like a reasonable model if it's useful to you. Except in personal growth, step 8 is the realization that there's another staircase around the corner that you were unable to see until you got to the top of this one. So you return to step 1 in a new stage.

I do think it's good to be aware that being in a stage is not the same as passing through it, and conceptualizing steps like this can be helpful in terms of realizing that excitement does not equal enlightenment, and awakening does not equal enlightenment, and disillusionment does not mean there is no enlightenment, etc. as often happens. It's common to mistake seeing the stage for transcending the stage. Having the self awareness to know that you are just at the excitement stage seems like it could only help.

[esn]

It's common to mistake seeing the stage for transcending the stage.

Well said, Andy.
Are growth cycles (aka change) inexorable ?
I feed Miracle-Gro to my plants in the spring and fall. Sometimes I give them an extra dose because I want them to grow even more. Most of them have survived.

Every day I read about personal development, think about growth and awakening, feel like I am about to transcend into enlightenment.

Miracle-Gro isn't personal development for plants - even though the plants look "better".

What parts of personal development aren't personal development ?


Best Wishes,
Eric

[Liara Covert]

Hi esn.

I have done aikido. There exist tournaments and festivals of aikido both in and outide of Japan. I'm unsure where you looked into this, but I'd encourage you to research in different places.

To comment on your original question, I do see growth as a possibility for many different facets and levels of our individual lives. Just as there exist different levels of maturity and emotional intelligence, opportunities exist for growth in every area of your life that you can think of and even for those areas you haven't even discovered yet. The more you learn about yourself, the more you will learn about yoru relationships and other life choices. If you choose, joy and other benefits can be experienced all along the path of self-discovery!

[Little Deb]

There are seasons in life and endeavours. There are the Spring and Summer types of cycles when we awaken then work like the dickens, then there's a Fall and Winter when we prepare for a time to slow down and "hibernate" or reflect. It's all natural. It's just not always easy to understand.

[esn]

Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Invariably, I believe growth is the key to a great life - my life will be a big as my heart (standing on the shoulders of giants).

And a great life is a happy one.

What exactly is growth - mastery, enlightenment, metamorphasis, discovery of one's true self ?

I feel an impending paradox Dennis Palumbo, writer, "The Paradox of Happiness".


Best Wishes,
Eric

[Liara Covert]

Fantastic post by Palumbo. Thanks for sharing esn. Personally, I've dreamed of visiting remote places like Tibet, Bhutan and Manchu Pichu, because I visualize and sense incredible peacefulness in these historic cultures. I don't feel happiness is found among them per se. However, I sense separating oneself from the familiar is increasingly necessary to learn to truly listen to ourselves. People may take meditation, yoga or engage in activities meant to enable them to step back from what other people impose as ideas of happiness. Yet, fewer people actually manage the mental and psychological separation. Why might this be?

Well, as Palumbo's article highlights how easy it is to be temporarily transplanted in a foreign place without a deeper sense of connection or meaning. The peopl described feel restless for the reality they think they know somewhere else, but ironically, seem unable to value where they are.

Ironically perhaps, many people express desire for a new life when they don't really know what to do with the one they have.