WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING AT?

What does it mean to look? Does it mean to look in between the couch cushions for the remote? To look for your size in the clearance shoe section? To look for a familiar face in a room full of strangers? To look for the speckles of goodness when reflecting on a bad day? Although the literal definition of the word “look” may not hold any deeper meaning to most, “looking” is something we all find ourselves doing. Looking for a community where you belong. Looking for the perfect pair of earrings to go with your cocktail dress. Looking for the good in someone who has given you every reason not to. Looking for Easter eggs with your siblings when you were six. Looking at the red traffic light in the middle of the night in your deserted hometown. What you find yourself looking at and for, literally and figuratively, has a direct effect on who you are and who you will become.

What are you looking at?

When you look up “what makes you grow” online, you will end up with a slew of science-based answers congested with medical terminology. However, these answers focus on the tangible evidence of growth: the physical.

But how do you grow internally? What forces this certain growth? What makes you who you were always meant to be?

Is it the ever-present changing of the seasons? Is it due to the seemingly, unavoidable hardships in life? Could it be the disappointment of a lackluster evening or the joy found in the open air of an ethereal spring day? Maybe growth manifests in the feeling you get driving down backroads when your favorite childhood song starts to play or the wave of emotion when it ends. Can you find it in the rush you feel when you finally leave your hometown for the big city and the unease you are faced with in unknown territory?

Maybe it’s sipping champagne out of plastic cups while walking down 16th Avenue, mapping out our plans for world domination. It most definitely is the release of giggles in the most inappropriate times, the ones that get us through the day. It’s breaking down barriers, fighting for change, and winning. Having our work, our dedication, noticed for even one minuscule second. The awe-inspiring view of a tumultuous landscape yearning to be conquered.

What makes a person grow? What is it that can cause someone to change, bloom and completely reshape their life?

The answer is simple: you’ll decide. You’ll decide what stops you in your tracks or what catapults you to your purpose. You’ll decide what counts as ongoing bad luck or what sparks a catalyst for change.

You’ll decide if it’s an impending defeat or a victory impatiently waiting for you to claim it. Your intention, your reasoning, your purpose is what drives you.

So, what makes you grow? I guess you’ll find out.