Expansion: Our Greatest Fulfillment

“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.”- Bruce Lee

There is no other feeling that I hate more, than the feeling of being stagnate. This feeling of stagnation is one of deep boredom, of not expanding or growing in some way. This boredom is not from doing a repetitive activity. Nothing is really repetitive, the boredom is coming from us, we are boredom.

Something only seems repetitive when we do it in an unconscious way. Take a look at kids; they play the same game over and over without ever getting tired of it. They even enjoy it more once they learn more about it. It doesn’t get boring because they bring a whole different consciousness to it, they are alert and nothing exists outside of what they are doing.

So whenever you feel bored, remember it’s not from what you are doing. You can substitute it with anything and soon you will be bored again once the novelty wears off. This should just be a signal to you that you need to grow in your being. You need to expand your awareness. You can say that if you had a different job, you would not be bored, but in due time your new job would become boring as well. The job is not the problem, the job is not boring, it’s us.

Expansion is where we find deep fulfillment. Just remember a time when you truly felt great, when you felt a great peace within yourself. If you paid attention you would have felt a feeling of expansiveness. This feeling is one of being deeply at ease with life, becoming open and inclusive to everything around you.

When you feel stagnate take a look at your attitude towards life. Are you yearning for new and unknown experiences, but too afraid to leave the known and comfortable? Look at all the things you have become attached to. You can feel this feeling of expansion by experiencing the new and leaving the old. You can’t bring the old into the new without corrupting the experience. This does not also mean you always have to be doing new things; just that you bring enough awareness, then everything you do is new.

You have to be able to leave your attachments, and your pre-conceived ideas to welcome the new. Your attachments give you this feeling of stagnation, without even knowing it you are creating limits and boundaries for you to live within. Since our true nature is one of expansion, living within these imaginary limits becomes a prison cell for us, we might even make the prison look like a castle.

Awakening Awareness and Ways To Feel Expansive:

Next time you go to the beach sit down and just observe the ocean (or a clear blue sky). Look at it without any inner verbalization, just simply see, and pay attention to how your body feels. If you let your mind get quiet enough, you will begin to feel the boundaries between your body and the ocean melt. Remember the only thing that keeps you separated from whatever you observe is your thoughts. Your thoughts are the last barrier.

So when you are able to see something simply, the boundaries will fall and this feeling of expansion will descend upon you. This is why people enjoy watching sunsets or looking at the ocean, it makes you feel expanded because you feel like you are one with the ocean.

Try this little experiment: wherever you place your attention is what becomes your world. Our attention is the most powerful thing we possess. When you are looking at the wide expansive ocean, gaze at the whole scene without focusing on anything in particular. Don’t blink, when you become aware of your attention inside you, redirect its focus to the scene you are observing. Just feel it out, feel your attention in the ocean, don’t think. If you bring enough awareness you will feel a click happen inside you and will actually feel like you are part of the ocean, that you have transcended the confines of your body. Your inner space and the outer space become one, in reality, there really is no inner or outer, only our minds make the boundaries.

You can also try this when you are people-watching, practice throwing your attention on them, and feel that your attention is inside them. You may get this weird feeling that you have become the person, that you know what it is to be that person. This is difficult to describe, just try it, and let me know what your experience is like. When I practice this in crowded places I feel a deep sense of compassion, because I feel that we are not separate. How could I harm or have ill feelings towards someone I feel is part of me, part of the same organic whole? The feeling of being separate is what causes us to fight and struggle against our fellow brothers.

Another great way to feel this sense of expansion is through creation. Just create something, express whatever is inside you, through whatever medium you like. Creation is expansion. Read my short article on “Reclaiming Your Child Like Creativity” to get you going.

I love to travel and live in foreign countries :). It’s my favorite way to expand :). I would encourage anyone to live abroad; it is truly a life-changing experience. If you are interested in travel you may enjoy these posts:

• Volunteer Work Abroad: Your Ticket To A Meaningful Contribution
• How To Deal With Being Lost In Translation
• The Essential Qualities of a Traveling Companion
• Leave America Become a Vagabond
• Top 10 lessons I learned as a Peace Corps Volunteer
• Slow Down, Pura Vida (Pure Life)

Once again thank you for visiting my site, I hope it somehow assists you in your journey of personal growth. Let’s make this world one of love and contribution; we really need it if we are to survive.