I asked my daughter in law what my oldest teenage granddaughter was into these days because her birthday is coming up and I wanted her gift from me to be in the ballpark of her heart’s desire. Her response was a specific jewellery item and brand that is currently trending.
That got me reminiscing. What was trending in jewellery when I was her age? The answer? A mustard seed charm and charm bracelets, that’s what! Artfully encased in a water-filled bauble, the size of the mustard seed was amplified by its spherical magnifying glass enclosure. The seed represented the grand potential of each person no matter her humble minuscule beginning.
That lead me to another thought on this tangent: Have I reached my potential?
According to Maslow’s developmental hierarchy of needs, I’m smack dab in the middle of my last developmental stage of life, “becoming the most that one can be.” In other words, has my mustard seed of realistic individuated potential germinated, sprouted, and branched to comfortably nest the best of me?
Here are a few questions with which I can evaluate myself.
Do I accept myself and others for who they are, or do I keep trying to change them?
Do I appreciate others, or am I stuck in stereotyping?
Am I grounded in the mystical and spiritual?
Am I invested in a few solid relationships?
Am I tapped into my creativity?
Do I transcend my existential immediate dilemmas, or do I just cope?
Am I comfortable asking myself these questions?
It is like a mustard seed that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground when it is sown, it grows up, becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds can nest in its shade.
Thanks for sharing those questions. They helped me do a little self-evaluation.