Embracing Disruption to Invite Personal Growth

Change is tough. Most of us prefer the stable moments of our lives. The sweet stability that ushers in tolerance, security, control and organization. Yet, stability is not the most fertile of grounds. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely place to relax and recharge but not much growth happens in the stable places of our lives. Stability is like a car in neutral, it’s running, but without traction and movement.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely place to relax and recharge but not much growth happens in the stable places of our lives.”

Given the choice, I would choose stability over disruption. Most of us would. The utter decimation, chaos, and uncertainty that sits down on top of one’s being and demands our full attention when the disruptor takes the stage is extremely unpleasant. In these last several months, we all have been living with significant disruptors. The framework of our everyday lives that we depend on, almost to the point of claiming them to be “certain”, have been significantly altered, if not broken. Most of us are fatigued and we desire the disruptors to exit stage left while stability floats back in to steal the show.

With Disruption Comes the Opportunity For Growth.

Growth is tough too. It stretches, it grinds, it hurts. Growth highlights what we are moving away from and inching towards. The best parts of me did not blossom from stable ground. I was shaped under pressure and believe it or not, I would not change that. I can easily recall these moments of my life because not only did they demand my full attention, they demanded a choice from me. Rise up or fold? Succeed or fail? Run away or stick with it? Growth demands a choice. It demands engagement, it demands commitment and it promises something fertile on the other side.

As difficult as these disruptors are and will continue to be, we have a choice every day in terms of how we meet them, what we tell ourselves about them, and what we tell ourselves about our self in the face of them. Choice and growth start with us and end with us. We create the narrative and we shape the outcomes. If we look at this moment as the worst thing that could have happened, maybe we are missing the valuable opportunity to see what can be created from this moment and how we will grow from it.

“Choice and growth start with us and end with us. We create the narrative and we shape the outcomes.”

Rest assured, the disruptors will leave, they always do, and stability will re-appear. All of our lives cycle this. Each cycle with its own unique duration and sets of circumstances. While we are all collectively enduring the cycle of disruption, let us tend to our choices and our growth so that our upcoming stable moments are
that much sweeter.