Life done well is the continual process of reinventing yourself. Sometimes this happens in a sad way – as in a mid-life crisis: finding a new wife, a new life and maybe a new car. Sometimes people just take on a new outward appearance. Your outward appearance can be a reflection of an internal process, but recreating yourself is more than just changing how you look. It is undergoing real and thorough transformation. Some people age, but do not really grow. They stay rigidly attached to “the way they have always done things.” They don’t adapt. They just stay put.
Life, however, repeatedly hands you circumstances which require you to reinvent yourself. Your job gets hard. Your relationships get hard. Maybe the same old thing that worked before no longer works. You must be ready and willing to meet the new demands of new circumstances. If you do not, you will continue to get what you have always gotten and risk becoming irrelevant.
I believe we have many “rebirths.” You can think of it as shedding layers. Once you have shed the outermost layer, your new self is revealed. The common understanding of being “born again” (in Christian spirituality) is that this is a one-time event – do it once and you’re good – but my experience is that we can continually reinvent ourselves. And all of these rebirths can be ways we sink further into our essence, the Essence.
It might also help to note that what occurs around these transitional points is some level of upset, discomfort and irritability. It’s like our bodies know change is needed. Your second births are much like your first: the closer you are to crossing over the transition point, the more stress and pressure there are. These are commonly referred to as growing pains. You can do change as many times as you want or need if you are willing to go through that temporarily painful process. It helps to have the type of flexibility that allows change to take place. If you don’t go through these periodic transformations, you might end up in a mid-life crisis.
Life lets me know I am constantly in need of change. I prefer to be quiet and reserved, but life requires that I push myself out and let myself be known. I have achieved some things in my life, but life requires that I continue to improve myself and climb another mountain. I am stressed out and anxious about certain things and life requires that I constantly seek trust and healing. These are my pending rebirths. What are the ways you need reinventing?