I’m moving my stuff from North Carolina to Portland, Maine this week.  And I wanted to share some reflections I’ve had during this process of my personal value development…

#1.  Transitions

A wise friend said that we often get our transitions, or more specifically, our beginnings and endings, mixed up.

Often when something happens, like a move, a break up, a job loss, we think that we are ending something.

But what if we looked at it as actually a beginning?  Think of the possibilities. Think of all of the personal value development you could create when you realize you don’t have to live out Hellen Keller’s quote…

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

We CAN SEE that next door! Imagine what’s through there!

Change is inevitable in life.  It is life.  If we didn’t change, we’d die.  When I was little (and still sometimes these days) I had a huge problem with change.  If my parents got a new couch it would throw me for a loop.  It’s funny, because I’ve made a career out of changing homes, states, boyfriends, jobs, passions… I think it’s my way of facing this fear and keeping life fresh and exciting and ensuring my personal value development.

And through it all, I’ve developed a centering, that regardless of the change that is happening around me, I can maintain a sense of grounding.

Likewise, we often think that a wedding, a new relationship, a new job, a new home is a beginning.  My friend says that it is actually an ending.  Ponder that one for a while…

#2  Time

When I move (which seems to be about every 1-3 years) I go through stuff.  I read my journals.  I look back at notes in calendars, I read cards, I look at pictures, and so much reflection comes up for me.  It may be a way of procrastinating from actually packing, but I savor these moments.

It’s a way of making sense of time.  Of seeing the growth that has happened and accessing my personal value development.

Yesterday as I was reading through journals I noticed many intentions I had written down.  And with the time that has passed, I’ve noticed that many have been fulfilled.  What’s funny is that now I have more desires and intentions for bigger things. My personal value development needs keep expanding.

Which leads me to reflection:

# 3 Wanting

Abraham Hicks in their teachings of the Law of Attraction, says we will always be in a state of desire.  Of wanting.  This is hard to swallow for someone who has studied Buddhism.  Isn’t desire the root of all suffering?

I think we can blend both beliefs nicely.

For example, when I read in my journal that I wanted ________ I realized, gosh, I DID get that, I DID accomplish that, I DID attract that… but now I want ________ too.  I want MORE!

We will always be in a state of wanting, of desiring.  That’s what keeps us living.  That’s the energy pouring through us.  That’s the importance of personal development goals. Imagine a life where you got everything you wanted and then just stopped wanting.

Have you ever seen that movie Big Fish?  Remember that “Perfect Town” Edward Bloom came upon.  He thought he’d be so content if he could just find that perfect place, but when he did…he had to get the heck out of there because he had to keep living.

And I think the Buddhist beliefs can fit in nicely with this concept of always desiring more.  We can use the teachings of meditation and making peace with where we are.  If we learn to be content, at peace with, satisfied in… that in between state, then we don’t have to suffer.

When we can make peace with the fact that there will always be a gap between what we want and what we have, then we can attract all that we want while in a peaceful desiring.  An expected state.  We can get comfortable in that state, rather than feel the suffering or yearning that we may have felt in the past.

This is the importance of personal development. It’s being able to live your best self in the best state of mind.

Would Love To Hear Your Experience With Moves, And Thoughts About Transitions, Time, And Wanting. Or Your Idea Of The Importance Of Personal Development. Leave Your Comment Below…

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