We talk about things like personal and spiritual growth, but what do these things really look like when we find them? How do we know we have found them at all?

In my dreams I often find hidden rooms in my home. I see a door somewhere in my house that I have never noticed before, and when I open it I find rooms and sometimes, whole houses I have never seen before.

I wander around inside of these rooms exploring my new found living space, and I find the most magical things. I find doors opening into beautiful gardens, fountains flowing across stone walk ways, rooms full of books and antique furniture.

Follow up:

In these dreams I never question how my home just magically grew, where these doors come from, or how I never noticed them before. I just walk through the rooms touching things, feeling them and experiencing my new found life.

To me, this is personal growth. It is seeing things you never saw before, or even seeing old things in a new way. It is walking through the rooms of your mind, exploring, touching, feeling, and just experiencing yourself and the world around you.

As we open new doors in our mind, we find out new things about ourselves and the world around us. There is no limit to the things we will find when we finally open that door that stands before us.

Many of us are afraid of opening those doors though, we never know what we will find, or where they will lead us. Often, we know those doors are there but we go on with our lives, sometimes for years pretending they are not.

True, what we find on the other side might not be pleasant, it might be something we would rather we had not found at all, but that door often leads to another door, and another, and another.

We may find places that contain bad memories, things we have tried very hard to forget. We may find things we don’t want to face. We may find parts of ourselves that aren’t so pleasant. That’s okay, just walk through to the next door and open it.

Those rooms were always there, they have always been a part of us and they will always be there. We can only use those rooms filled with magic and beauty, if we have the courage to open the door.

So go ahead, place your hand on the doorknob and turn it. If there is nothing in that room that you can use to better your life, move on to the next room. If you find a place you like, sit down, get comfortable, stay awhile and just enjoy it. Just don’t get too comfortable.

The next door will always be waiting for you when you are ready.