Sir Godfrey Gregg
Beginning Stage – Knowledge
The beginning stage of learning or change is the thinking or cognitive stage. This is the stage where you may decide to learn more about something – perhaps you choose to explore spiritual realities and delve into many traditions, teachings and materials. During this stage, you spend a lot of time acquiring information, processing new concepts mentally, and figuring out how everything fits together.
During the beginning phase, personal growth tends to be sporadic, uncoordinated and often somewhat lopsided – not unlike watching a toddler taking their first solo steps. Mistakes are common and it is often difficult to filter out irrelevant information, since discernment is a skill that gets refined with time and practice. You may get overwhelmed easily when there are too many things happening in your life at one time or if you put pressure on yourself.
One of the most valuable forms of support during this phase is to ask for constructive feedback and encouragement from others. You can also support your own progress by giving yourself room and grace to fail, and making a commitment to keep going after each setback. Repeated effort provides the practice needed to become more familiar with the new skill or learning.
Continues tomorrow….
