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Expanding our capacity, growing our container

Introduction: Expanding Capacity for Personal and Professional Growth

In our earlier years, we focus on acquiring skills and capabilities to help us succeed in life. As I developed as a leader and human being, I realised that at some point, the growth slowed. The more knowledge I accumulated no longer brought the success I was seeking and I was hitting a glass ceiling. Then I encountered the concept of “growing our container,” not just acquiring more skills and capabilities but increasing our capacity and ability to hold and experience more.

The Parable of the Glass and the Lake

During my self-growth journey, I discovered a Hindu parable that beautifully illustrates this concept:

An aging master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the master asked.

“Bitter” spit the apprentice.

The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?” “Fresh,” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the master. “No,” said the young man.

At this, the master sat beside this serious young man who so reminded him of himself and took his hands, offering, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in.

So, when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things …. stop being a glass. Become a lake.

Growing Capacity to Experience Life Fully

This parable inspired me to grow my capacity and “become a lake.” As I expanded my container, I could hold more of life’s experiences—both painful and joyous. Gradually, I met more and more of the edges of my container and worked to expand them. I became less overwhelmed and learned to manage challenges with more ease and grace.

As a highly sensitive person, I’ve always struggled with the amount of stimulus I pick up from the world around me. Growing my capacity allowed me to not only manage this sensitivity but also use it to enrich my life. I began to access greater intelligence through my feelings, intuition, and sensing—skills that were underdeveloped or neglected but later became my superpowers.

Leadership at a Higher Level

These subtler, yet more powerful ways of growing also shaped my perspective on Leadership. After all, Leadership is an art, not a science, and it starts from within. Expanding our capacity allows us to lead from a deeper, more connected place. This form of leadership gives me hope for the future of organisations and society.

Practices to Expand Capacity

I will dive deeper into the practices I’ve used to grow my capacity, but here are a few:

  • Embodiment
  • Grounding
  • Centering
  • Meditation
  • Breathing
  • Dancing
  • Journaling
  • Mindfulness
  • Energy work
  • Inner child and parts work

These tools have helped me expand my container and continue to grow, allowing me to meet each day with presence and resilience. I continue to welcome in new forms of capacity building, first for myself but then to offer them to my clients as all of us are different and it’s important we find what works for each of us.

Conclusion: Tending to Your Container

How much focus are you placing on your capacity versus your capabilities? Have you ever thought about your edges and how you could grow your container?

Our growth is limitless, but we need to tend to our container regularly. As we do, our knowledge and experience ripen into wisdom, changing how we meet life.

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