Are you a curious learner? I thoroughly enjoy reading and learning about the world around me. I trust it has served me well in the challenging time we are living in with COVID-19 and all the political and social issues that have happened this past year. It has been many years since I was in high school and the biology classroom but observing the world around me and the challenges of this past year got me thinking about the petri dish and how that equates to your life.
First off, I need to state that I am not a scientist or claim any expertise on biology but will use the example of a petri dish as a metaphor for how life works and the lessons we can glean from this metaphor. A Petri dish is a shallow transparent lidded dish the biologists use to hold growth medium in which cells can be cultured. Sciencestruck.com goes on to explain that in the petri dish, “Cells are provided the appropriate environmental conditions and food which helps them grow in the given medium. A petri dish provides space and protects them from contamination.” Originally what the scientists were growing were bacteria, fungi and small mosses. The question that comes from my thoughts are what conditions are you developing and what are you growing?
Most people when they hear the word bacteria think of something negative or bad such as a virus, but it can also be useful such as using apple cider vinegar to counteract indigestion. If life is like a petri dish how are your creating the conditions for developing the good out of life and what steps can you take to see that that happens?
Conditions for Development
First let’s look at the conditions to development. If growing personally and desire to make an impact on the world around you, there is a need for you to develop and grow. I firmly believe that reading is a main key to growing. There is so much information in our world that delving into many different genres will give you a broad spectrum of knowledge and help in understanding others. The challenge often is a lack of understanding and humbleness to know that you do not know what you do not know. If learning and growing are important how are you doing that?
The Foundation
I have not always been the best reader. Graduating from high school and not going to college right away, I didn’t think I need to learn anymore and was burned out by studying and books. I have since matured and love to read and have grown in my reading ability and comprehension. To do that I had to create space to spend time reading. I would encourage you to think about this and commit to finding the time to read. My time was before I went to sleep. An ulterior motive was the idea that you ruminate the ideas that go through your mind just before you go to sleep. At first, I could only read a few paragraphs. Over time I was able to read more depending on what I did during the day and how tired I was but my speed and the amount I read improved the more I read. Find the conditions (space and circumstance) to develop and grow something good.
What are you growing?
Spring is right around the corner which means the flowers will start blooming and the crops will begin to grow after they are planted. Just like that seed there are certain things that it needs to grow. I’ve already mentioned reading as a main way to grow but what about the information you are ingesting. Things will grow in the petri dish of your mind which means it is important to be putting in things that are helpful and good. I have had to limit my social media intake because it can be very toxic. Be aware of how the things you are reading and letting get into your mind are affecting you and your body. The stress and tension of what is happening in our world does affect you.
Iron Sharpen Iron!
Another way that you can grow is by having people around you that will challenge and push you. The Proverbs in the Bible state that “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Having people around you that don’t always agree with you to challenge your thinking is good. Often, we think that conflict is bad, but we need it in our lives to help our biases. Invite people into your life even those you don’t agree with or are like you. It will make you a better person.
Think About Your Thinking!
The last way to grow is to challenge your own thinking by taking time to process and evaluate. We all have paradigms and ways that we think and understand the world but are they right? I just started reading the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman who stated that “Our subjective judgments were biased: we were far too willing to believe research findings based on inadequate evidence and prone to collect too few observations in our own research.” Don’t just take the news as gospel, do the research and challenge your thinking.
Take the time to marinate in your own petri dish but be putting in good cultures to help you grow. Unfortunately, we cannot be protected from contamination like a real petri dish but there are ways that you can input good ideas and have a better environment to develop yourself personally and professionally. Develop the condition and habit of reading to grow. Bring others around you that are healthy but different than you to sharpen you. Don’t forget to pause and challenge your thinking and do the research to understand the world around you.
You can be a bacteria that does harm or you can be a bacteria that is for good. You have the control to grow and develop yourself! Go do the work!