Labyrinth: Growth Gap

By: Maria Leni D. Oro

There was once a TV ad that talked about growth gap. It commonly happens to children as they near adolescence. At this point, some of the children stopped growing. As the advertisement suggests, kids should drink milk so that they will prevent being stuck at a despicable height. At the end, the endorser was so happy to see kids reach the maximum potential of their height.

Ironically, not only children experience growth gap, adults do, too. The more depressing point is, adults are sometimes stuck in a terrible growth gap that no milk can ever save them.

Let me tell you the three fields where adults pause and stop.

Growth gap can be experienced academically.

Let’s see this point, whenever you get out of the gates of NDMU everyday, have you asked yourself if you have become a better person than before you went in? Or, you are still the same old you? If they asked you about your day, can you say you have learned something amazing? Or you just say it’s all the same boring day?

If your answers to the or-questions are yes, then you are definitely on the pitiful stage of academic growth gap. At this point, you see school as another place of torment, where you are forced to learn on some out-of-this-world kind of concept, where you have to comply with some killer requirement, where you have to listen to some not-so-animated teachers. Everyday is a lousy day. Everyday is the same day as yesterday. You paddle through the stream and just let it carry you wherever it wants to.

You are on the initial stage of growth gap.

Point two, growth gap can be social.

Have you experienced being alone in the crowd, and when you look all around, you don’t have anybody to talk to? Have you been through an instance where you can’t start a conversation because you basically don’t know anything about anybody?

If all your answers are yes, then yes, you are a socially handicapped social being.

You don’t have anybody to talk to because you just spent your life talking alone to the people you usually go with. You don’t know anything about anybody because you never tried to. You have never attempted to strike a conversation to know them more and to see them beyond the light of your prejudices. Your life only revolved to the people you want to befriend, to the people you feel comfortable to be with. You’ve created a security blanket, a comfort zone, and you hate to get away from it and because you’re too comfortable, you don’t tolerate anything that poses a threat to your comfort.

At this stage, you are on a more serious growth gap.

Finally, growth gap can occur spiritually.

Have you been through a stage where everyday is an exact duplicate of the other day and the days that passed? Did you experience a disturbing feeling akin to emptiness? Is this emptiness too distressing that it feels like it’s boring a hole in your chest everyday, and the hole just keep getting bigger? Did life finally lost its meaning?

If your answers are all no, then congratulations, you are a spiritually healthy person! Also, if all your answers are no, may be you are really healthy, or you just don’t know your status because you never tried to stop and think and ponder about yourself. On the other hand, if all your answers are yes, congratulations, you are a very honest person. At least you know you have a problem. At this point, you need a cure because you have the most malignant growth gap ever. If this can’t be treated, you’ll remain slumped on a stage threadlike away from a major disaster.

The good thing is, it’s not too late.There are medications for these growth gap years. For the first one, milk can be a start. Unfortunately, milk is not the only answer. Have you checked yourself lately? What has fueled you before? What drove you before you lost your enthusiasm? Have you lost you motivation or your motivation wasn’t that strong enough that you easily broke hold of? The school is a world of learning. If you are not learning anything lately, then you should check if it’s still worth going to school after all. The motivation must come from within.

The second type of growth gap has its prescription. There is something I learned from my RE. Every person is a gift. Every person is a box of surprises, the cover may differ, and the packaging may vary. You may open the others, and few go neglected. If you only take a second of your time to open the few, you might be surprised of what awaits you! Talk to people. Learn from people. Know them deeply beyond their names and courses. Make the most of your time with them, you’ll only have them once in a lifetime.

The third one is the most neglected and ignored growth gap. Others may not even notice the symptoms unless it’s malignant. It brings upon us a truckload of burden that triggers the emotion, the soul and the spirit. It’s a gnawing feeling that bites you slowly till you fall apart. If it’s always ignored, you may end up dying without a wound.

The symptoms are unmistakable. A lack of personal direction, a lack of sense of satisfaction, and a lack of meaning are the common ones. If you feel this way, you’re not alone, but it calls for your action.

Many have clung to fame but they ended up forgotten in the end. Some have tried wealth, but they only worry of thieves and kidnappers. Others want prestige only to be surpassed by others.

“For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever, ” according to 1 John 2:26-27.

Do you want to fill the void? Try Jesus. He cures growth gaps like no milk or Cherifer ever can.