Can Growth Happen Without the Willingness to Grow?

Is growth inevitable? Do we all grow throughout our lives? Or like so many other aspects of our life, is growth a choice? A conscious decision?

Some people believe growth is inevitable. And maybe it is. At least on some level. But I'm not so sure, though I leave room for the possibility.

Many of us know people who are stuck in the past. Unable to move forward at all. I get stories and emails and comments from people just about every day who cannot find any peace at all, let alone grow from the experiences they encountered. Some are so broken, they seem to devolve rather than evolve.

So what is necessary for someone to grow? For someone to be able to look back at their life and see the value in all that happened? I'm talking about all the negative stuff. Because, let's face it, the happy stuff is not the stuff of growth, now is it.

Last night I got together with a couple of friends to watch the PBS special, I Can See Clearly Now with Wayne Dyer, based on his book of the same title. My friend taped it so we could view it at our leisure, and so we could pause it whenever we wanted to discuss various aspects to the concepts. There were lots of pauses.

I Can See Clearly Now is a spiritual look at how the events in one's past contribute to one's purpose and calling. I haven't yet read the book, but I did find the concepts interesting. In part, because I agree that the crappy stuff that happens to us in our lives are the training ground for our purpose and calling.

On the bottom rung of Wayne Dyer's spiritual ladder of five principles of seeing clearly is willingness. According to Dr Dyer, without the willingness to grow, we are not prepared to make the necessary course corrections in order for growth to actually happen. Determination, Fearlessness, Compassion and Love make up the remaining four rungs of the sacred ladder. The author believes that all contribute and are necessary to finding one's sacred path.

Whether or not Dr Dyer is correct, growth comes when there is a willingness to grow. Without that willingness, growth is far less likely. Would you agree?