It's not about the outcome

Spiritual growth isn't about a guaranteed outcome or checking another item off your wishlist.

‘Morning Ant’ Image by Karas Cahill

Spiritual growth is not about controlling or forcing an outcome.

Curiosity, discovery, and learning to trust yourself will get you farther than making a list of demands, and expecting specific outcomes.

What if it’s really all about enjoying the journey?

Sometimes people seem to approach their spiritual journey as a to do list, holding a specific outcome in mind of what they expect from a class, reading, or healing. There isn’t much room available for an unexpected, more profound experience to happen for them, because they have a fixed idea of what it should be.

Because of this controlled approach, they often miss the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, events that happen as they do their work. They forget that they are not in charge of every part of this journey, that there needs to be room for spirit to work.

This is where the magic and miracles happen, this allowing of spirit to show up and play. We get wrapped up in the steps to take to achieve x, y, or z, the doing of it all. We often forget about the spirit, the being.

Doing has us working at a 3rd chakra level, as a body. I need to prove this to myself, that it really works, and the only way to prove it is this particular outcome. If I don’t manifest this particular thing within a specific time, either it doesn’t really work or I did it wrong. This attitude completely misses the point that spiritual growth is not a cookie cutter one size fits all kind of thing.

When we are allowing ourselves to trust our spirit, we are being. This is more of a 7th chakra level of knowing ourselves, having our own intuition and natural information showing up. We know, we don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Something unexpected and magical can happen, and it often does! This is also scarier, because we have to be willing to let go of control, and that isn’t easy. But it’s so worth it when we do.

It’s not about the outcome. Nobody and nothing can guarantee you an outcome - ever. There’s no one size fits all when it comes to spiritual growth.

Curiosity is the key

Curiosity helps us be in the mindset of discovery and adventure. Curiosity knows the path isn’t a predetermined one, and that it can only be discovered by setting one foot after the other and moving ahead, following our nose along the way.

Curiosity really is the key - to personal growth, clairvoyance, and creativity in general. This is not about finding a solution or quick fix. If you go into your own spiritual growth with a list of demands rather than a desire to discover something about yourself, you will be disappointed and miss some important clues and information.

I personally find the uncurious people I come across to be tedious. Someone who will not express or exercise the power of curiosity is unaware that they are automatically reacting to something that has them stay the course and remain uncurious. What I’ve noticed is that often they are trying to control an outcome or need something to be a certain way for them, or they may not be aware that they have permission to be curious.

Curiosity is how we invent, heal, create, see, and reclaim our own authority.

Being nice and obedient instead of curious

We have all been taught to follow the leader, to obey and not question authority, and to avoid asking uncomfortable questions. Don’t rock the boat, it’s not nice! For some of us, being curious has sometimes resulted in punishment. I still remember the punishing atmosphere in the Catholic school I attended as a young person, and later on when I realized this same energy was being reflected in a group I was part of as an adult, another school that was supposed to be a safe space for me, I was turned off by this. Eventually I left that group. The same thing has happened over the years in personal relationships.

A red flag for me is a person who goes on the defensive or offensive when their assumptions about something get called into question, sometimes literally by asking them a simple question. Whether it’s family, work, friends, neighbors, or some other situation, whenever questions and curiosity are not allowed, that is someone who wants to control whatever narrative they are sitting in.

I have ended friendships with people who became threatened when I stopped matching to them and their beliefs. Bullies want no questions.

Your spiritual growth is your business

The thing about growing is that as soon as you do, and if you’re listening to your own knowing and inner voice, you will know where to go. With every step you take, the path ahead changes. This is exactly the right thing for you if you choose this.

If you try to adhere to the way others do things, expecting there to be a correct way to go about it, you’ll be disappointed when it doesn’t work for you. Spiritual growth isn’t ‘follow these three steps and poof you’re magically going to get this outcome’.

There is no one size fits all when you are looking for your own truth. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable and diverge from the group and its need to stay safe. If you do follow all of the rules the group tells you to follow, and you still don’t succeed at getting your big wish, you either did it wrong, or there’s just something wrong with you.

There is nothing wrong with looking for solutions, but nobody and no class and nothing can ever guarantee a solution for you in this regard. This isn’t because there is no solution, it is that the solution will not come from outside of you. You can take a class because it appeals to you, and you enjoy it and want to learn what it offers you. This will help you, because it’s your own interest and spirit that drives you to do this, not an expectation for a certain outcome.

New information that excites you at a deep spiritual level of yourself can bring you a new sense of awareness and optimism, and new ideas that help you create the solutions you desire. Your energy shifts and you allow new ways to find solutions for yourself. Your knowing and awareness kick in, and suddenly you’re having more than you expected. This is your spirit in action, and it’s priceless. Nobody can tell you how this will work for you, you have to experience it yourself.

I recommend that you come from a place of curiosity, what are you drawn to? What is it you want to know more about, experience, and learn? That is the path, one step at a time.