New Lands

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. Andre Gide

To learn and grow takes courage. To create anything new requires change. And change requires destruction of the old, of what we are used to. Our brains are built to cling to what we are familiar with, and we get upset whenever we deviate from that. Some people have a terrible time dealing with changes, where others don't mind it as much. But losing what we are familiar with is to some extent frightening for everyone.

Life is a journey. And like any other journey you will never get anywhere if you refuse to step away from where you already are and what you already know. Columbus would never have discovered the New World if he had been afraid of leaving Spain and sailing off into the unknown. Without explorers we still would beleive that the earth was flat and anyone who went too far would sail off the end of it and disappear. Think of the courage it took to go sailing with that level of understanding. And think of how much we have learned and benefited from those exceptionally brave people.

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. It helps if we understand that new things are not necessarily worse things. We need to have the attitude that life is a fun adventure with lots of wonderful things waiting for us just around the corner. We need to feel loved and protected by God, just like a child wandering off from his mother to go exploring his surroundings. We all need the security to consent to lose sight of what we are familiar with for a long time if we are all to learn and grow as our soul really wishes to.