This poem by Kahlil Gibran stopped me in my tracks…

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.

Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that's where the river will know
it's not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

Reading (and re-reading) the poem sparked four powerful thoughts:

1. Fear is natural before transformation. That fear you feel as you approach a significant change is completely natural. It’s a cost of entry for the transformation you wanted.

2. There is no going back. On your growth journey, there is no turning back. A few weeks ago, ​I wrote​, “I believe that the worst mistakes in life are made when we try to cling to a prior season that has already passed.” We cannot undo experiences or retreat into old versions of ourselves. Always forward.

3. Surrender is necessary for growth. The attachment to a present identity (“the river”) holds you back from your true potential. To become the new, you have to unbecome the old. You have to let go of your old habits, mindsets, beliefs, and identity. That requires a leap of faith. That requires a surrender.

4. It’s not a loss, it’s an expansion. What feels like a loss or disappearance of the old is often just an expansion into the richness of the new. The river does not disappear into the ocean, it becomes the ocean.

The river’s story is our story.

So, what ocean are you afraid to enter?

Maybe it’s time you surrendered to it.

And when you do, remember this:

You are not disappearing, you are becoming.