Growth

An "intense" couple of days at Sumeru got me thinking on how Guruji makes us grow. When I look back over the last few years, there has been so much growth in myself, and the process itself is so beautiful: intense, sometimes joyful, sometimes painful, but always ultimately elevating and transforming!
It sometimes seems to me that Guruji is in a great hurry: to make us grow absolutely as much as possible in this lifetime. Which is why He often seems to keep us at the limit of what we can bear. I've noticed this especially after my TTC1: He often throws situations at me that tax me to my limit, cause anger, frustration, tears, letters to Guruji....and ultimately the lesson that He wants me to learn. When He wants us to learn a lesson, I guess we have no choice but to learn it!
I'm sure you must have heard that the stronger your sadhna, the faster your growth. I wonder if this is one part of it: the stronger your sadhna, the tougher the situations you can face and ultimately overcome, and therefore the faster your growth.
Hope the above doesn't seem too negative! This is certainly not the only way I've seen growth happen within me. Many a time, the growth has been gradual, joyful, and one doesn't even realize how much one has grown so easily. Often, I would realize it only when I'd be placed in a situation that would have thrown me off earlier, but doesn't bother me any more.
What I've slowly come to realize, though, is that even when I'm in a situation that's throwing me off completely, more often than not, it just means He has something planned for me very soon. He thinks I'm ready to learn how to handle the situation, and is putting me into it so that I can learn. And that's when I've seen the most rapid growth happen in myself.

Jai Gurudev!