The Growth Process

If you didn’t already know, I’m a frequent reader of Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development Blog. I found out about Steve and his blog from another blog I used to read (which no longer exists), and it was from Steve that I found out the 80/10/10 raw food diet. Steve did a 30 day trial of the raw food diet back in January 2008 and documented his experience in extreme detail. It is definitely worth looking at if you are considering the raw food diet.

And it was from Steve that I found out about Roger Haeske (see my blog roll), and from him I was introduced to several other raw foodists who have been a great help on my journey.

Steve Pavlina’s blog and website is about personal development. Perhaps it’s due to my background in various Christian churches (which I no longer attend because there were only three churches I ever attended that cared about your spiritual growth; the rest were more concerned about religion and controlling your life), but I like the term “personal growth” when it comes to development. Those good churches always prioritized spiritual growth, and spiritual growth is merely a part of overall personal development / personal growth.

We all start out as babies and must grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I think that far too many of us think that we stop growing altogether once we reach physical maturity. As far as I’m concerned, nothing could be further from the truth. That’s why I like to read Steve Pavlina’s blog; it forces me to think and consider many things that I would otherwise ignore — if I was even aware of their existence. It’s always an interesting experience.

Now keep in mind that I don’t always agree with what Steve writes. He wrote earlier this year about spending lots of time this year (2009) in polyamory experiments. I may not get this quite right (so please read his blog to get the straight scoop), but I came away with the impression that he thinks that he’s gone as deep in his relationship with his wife as is possible. My current thinking is that the depths of the marriage relationship are “bottomless”, so to speak, and practicing intimacy with only your spouse (and I’m not just referring to physical intimacy) is a lifelong exercise that never ends. But while I question his reasoning, at least reading through those blog posts led me to commit to trying to deepen the relationship I have with my wife. So good did come out of it.

And coming from a Christian background, I’m still not quite sure what to think of his wife, Erin, who describes herself as a “psychic medium”. Weird stuff for somebody who is just starting to move beyond religion… Nevertheless, I do read her blog and try to do so with an open mind. I’m convinced that traditional Christianity (from a religious aspect) is about control, I question the motives of the group of people who decided which books of the Bible were “divinely inspired” hundreds of years ago, and wonder what has been left out (and yes, LOTS has been left out of the Bible; you can’t cram an infinite God into a finite book. And Steve Pavlina is right; lots of the Bible is boring and irrelevant, and a truly infinite, omnipotent God could have done a much better job). I have no doubts about God; my doubts lie in the limits placed on our understanding of Him by religion.

I say all of this to make a point. I attended a fundamental Baptist church as a child, gravitated (thankfully) to independent Bible churches (the ones that focus on allowing God and the Holy Spirit to truly change your life and focus on your responsibility to take charge of your spiritual growth are OK, in my opinion, but they are extremely rare), and my “church exile” over the past four years has not really hindered my spiritual growth much at all. My ability to pick and choose mentors and experiences is not done within the confines of a church or religion and are thus freed from these artificial restrictions. I’m at the point in my spiritual growth where I’m able to make these decisions and am willing to accept responsibility for them.

But I wasn’t this way when I was first born, nor was I “there” when I was physically mature. I’m still growing spiritually and am grateful for this growth and for all that have had an influence on that growth (even you, Erin! ).

It’s the same way with the raw food diet. Back when I first went on the diet last year, I just “did it”. I didn’t really allow myself to grow into it, and when I allowed myself to stray off it last August, there wasn’t enough of a solid foundation to immediately return and stay there. Now I understand better that, just like any other way in which I want to improve my life, the transition to the 80/10/10 raw food diet is a growth process. It’s taken me 51 years to obtain the level of spiritual growth that I have achieved and I know that I still have a long ways to go; why should I expect my adaptation of a raw food lifestyle to be instantaneous?

So I’m much more tolerant now of episodes where I go back to cooked foods, regardless of the duration. I’ve had some cooked foods this month and have recommitted today to going back to an all raw food diet (July 22 will actually be my first all-raw day, but that’s only because I had a non-raw snack early this morning — July 21 — before I went to bed. With some help from Dog!).

My point is that I will grow into a permanent low fat raw food lifestyle. I’m confident of that. I have great mentors who make great resources available to me (to make it easier), I have an active support community, plus I have some strong desires to do some advanced raw food activities (such as Dr. Graham’s annual fasting internship in Costa Rica. That scares me more than the spiritual issues I encounter on Erin Pavlina’s blog!). I know that I will get there, and my desire is to “get there” sooner than later.

So just like anything else in life that is worth obtaining, it requires growth and change. Since change really does require conscious growth (or growth requires conscious change), it may not happen overnight. The important thing is to allow the growth to take place so that you benefit and become a better person. This applies to any area of your life, including adapting a raw food diet. And come to think of it, there is a physical aspect to the raw food diet, so perhaps I’m not yet physically mature?

One final, unrelated thought: The scariest part of Erin Pavlina’s blog (I think) is the fact that it makes me face things that I’d rather not face and challenges some very deeply held beliefs that I suspect are not at all true, yet I’m extremely reluctant (perhaps even conditioned or “afraid”) to let them go. Just approaching the whole subject with an open mind is a huge step for me. More growth…