Life is like a flower pot and we are the plants. We spread our roots in the soil of our experience and grow leaves of who we are.

My childhood was spent in small town Conyers, Georgia. I grew up in one place and interacted with the same people.

When we live in one place for an extended period, we settle. Like plants, humans put down roots. 

They grow and become entrenched in a place. Many families settle in a location and live there for many years before leaving, if they ever do.

As I got older and began to grow into my own person, I planned to go to school in Georgia and move into my own house in Conyers. It was the only town I had ever known. It was my home.

Humans enjoy comfort and reliability. They like things that stay the same. 

This is why so many people create routines and schedules for their lives, so they will know what is coming next. But no human being can experience the entire world within their routine.

While I planned my life out in my town, I never even imagined leaving. However, after being rejected from university after university in the area, I flippantly applied to my parents’ university in South Florida.

I was accepted.

Then came the decision that would shape the formative years of my life: Do I leave the only place I’ve ever known and live somewhere I don’t know anyone, or do I refuse the opportunity and stay where I can breathe?

As creatures that abhor change, stepping out of the familiar is difficult. Even when an opportunity presents itself that seems beneficial, many people choose to remain in what they know.

But when we stay in the pot in which we are planted, there are limits to our growth. When we know less of the world, our pot of knowledge and experience is smaller. When we stay, we grow to the size of the pot we are in— to the size of the world we have experienced.

I wrestled for weeks on whether I would accept the opportunity in South Florida. I struggled with the thought of leaving my job, my church, my family and my friends. I was scared I would be all alone in Florida.

Despite all my fears, I decided to attend school in South Florida. And in doing so, I left my pot and changed my life.

Every person should leave their hometown on their own at least once in their lives. When you are young and stay in one place, even when you understand the existence of other places, you still have limited experience and understanding. The only tangible option is what you’ve always known.

But when you go somewhere new, where you are the only person you can hold responsible, you learn more about the world. You learn more about who you are apart from those who have been a part of your life for years. You discover who you are when you’re the only one calling the shots.

When I arrived at college, it only took me a few weeks to learn more about myself than I ever did in my hometown. But it took me months to understand the person I was growing into.

When I came back to Georgia, I was a new person. I didn’t lose who I was; it became the stem of entirely new growth.

After my new experiences, I saw Conyers as a good stop on my journey, but it was no longer my destination— all because I decided to go out and replant myself.

You will grow as big as the pot you plant yourself in. And it is never too late to venture outside of your pot.

And maybe even outgrow it.