Often as a child we are asked ‘What do you want to be when you grow up’?

The answers vary from child to child as their years advance for each of those children.  It is a typical question asked of various cultures, each one with its own parameters & definitions.

However, how many of you ask yourself what you will be if your soul learns all its proposed lessons and essentially grows up?

There is a concept of soulful growth, but it is often intertwined with a religious moment or a concept outdated by advancement not always perceived without deep self-reflection.

The idea and goal changes as the child develops and considers new ideas and opportunities.  What one ascribed to at age 8 usually aligns differently by the age of 18.  At 28 all those thoughts may be replaced by ones never even considered by the teenager or the child.

Proof that we are ever evolving.

The idea of clinging to concepts out dated by your advancement seems ridiculous in print. However, there are many who do so out of obligation and/or tradition. As you feel yourself ‘growing up’ it is important to consider the progress of your soul and what is necessary to maintain it in your personal development, while simultaneously releasing concepts no longer relevant to the soul is imperative. It is not perhaps not so much as turning away from your god, but actually turning inward to the self and soul, the ultimate manifestation of god.

As we begin to awaken to the truth of who we are, we develop a connection to our authentic essence, higher nature or Soul.

As we progressively advance on our paths, our essence begins to blossom like a luminous flower deep in our heart. And the more we clear away the dead, gnarled and overgrown beliefs, perspectives, and emotional baggage within us, the more clearly, we feel our essence. When we maintain our inner garden, we feel more and more love, wisdom, peace, and wholeness as our true nature is revealed slowly to us.

Yet, like any garden, our metaphorical inner landscapes can be consumed by weeds, plagues, and forms of pollution that strangle anything beautiful we have been nurturing. Sometimes, we even sabotage the growth occurring within us ourselves, without knowing it.

“This isn’t a journey about becoming something. This is about unbecoming who we are not.” – Adyashanti

Soul growth is the process of awakening to your true nature, purpose, and potential. When you undergo soul growth you experience an expansion in self-awareness and insight, also known as higher consciousness.

Here are a few signs that you are experiencing soul growth:

1- You start losing interest in yourself. You find yourself less and less interested in your story. You know who you really are, you know that you are NOT your story. And as a result, your taste for the drama that comes along with it starts falling away.You lose interest in your drama. Drama simply gives you a false sense of aliveness. When you are in tune with your real self, you are connected to the source of aliveness, thus you are fulfilled. You no longer need drama as a superficial way to try and feel alive.

2- You become less judgmental. The world we live in is a realm of duality. As you grow you begin seeing beyond right and wrong. Right and wrong is a perception based on your ego’s conditioning. It’s subjective based on the collective cultural agreement. As you grow you free yourself from the prison of your identity and you move beyond duality. You start seeing life from a higher perspective. As a result, you are more able to see the whole picture and able to honor each person’s soul evolution.

You realize that everything is perfect for your own soul’s evolution, even if it doesn’t seem that way at first. You may still feel the feelings that arise but are able to see the inherent perfection and not get stuck there.

3- You stop resisting what is. You stop fighting reality. And you are much more able to accept situations as they are. When you resist life, you suffer. When you resist reality, it’s misery. When you accept what is, you bring yourself into relationship with what is and are then able to choose how to respond.

4- You realize the inherent interconnectedness of all things. You see beyond the illusion of separation. You move into a level of oneness and become more loving as a natural by product. And you become aware of the impact of your choices and how they affect all humanity. So you move from a life focused on just yourself. You move beyond a life of just getting to one of giving. As you grow, service becomes a natural motivation and expression of your life focus.

Love is the fruit of your growth. At first, your love may involve mainly yourself. Then it expands beyond yourself to those around you. Then it expands beyond those around you to all humanity.

Then you realize you are love and every moment is your opportunity to live it!