Stepping into the Unfamiliar

Transformation happens through action, through stepping into the unfamiliar. If you want to grow, take real steps to break out of routine. Try something different—switch perspectives, engage with new people, visit places you’ve never been. Move beyond the comfort of the familiar. Without new experiences, new thinking is difficult and rare. These experiences are the key to new thinking. You won’t get there through theory alone.

Change your perspective by embracing new experiences. Go to the jail, walk through a new neighborhood, visit a different church. Once you experience something new, your thoughts and behaviors shift naturally. After a new experience, new thinking and behavior comes naturally and even becomes necessary. New encounters challenge assumptions and expand your understanding.

Take even the simplest actions, like eating a raisin, with deep attention. Mindfulness is not paying more attention but paying attention differently and more wisely—with the whole mind and heart, using the full resources of the body and its senses. Noticing the small things—how the raisin looks, smells, and feels—opens the door to mindfulness. This simple shift in focus rewires how you engage with life.

Growth doesn’t require big changes all at once; it starts with small, deliberate choices to do something differently. Start today. Look at your surroundings with fresh eyes. Every new step brings you closer to a fuller, more mindful life. The road to transformation is lived in each moment. And in these moments, growth becomes not only possible, but necessary.