I remember doing science experiments where we would swab different things around us (like door handles, tv remotes, pencils, etc.), rub those swabs across the gel-like material in a Petri dish, putting a lid on them, and leaving them in a cool, dark place. Roughly five days later we could see the bacteria in those dishes. Just a small sample of cells picked up on those swabs were able to grow into colonies of visible bacteria, showing us just how much these invisible organisms are present without us ever noticing.
I don’t share this to highlight the presence of bacteria, as it is these bacteria, and our exposure to it, that helps build and strengthen or immune systems. To think that we need to wage a war on these bugs, disinfect everything, and somehow work toward complete sanitation, is ridiculous. And harmful.
What I want to highlight about those experiments isn’t the bacteria, the swabs, or the Petri dishes themselves, but the gel-like material in those dishes. That material is called nutrient agar, which is defined as “a general-purpose liquid medium supporting growth of a wide range of non-fastidious organisms.” (Wikipedia) This gel contains ingredients that bacteria and fungi need for optimal growth.
Think of your world as a petri dish. We are all multi-celled organisms basically wandering around in a large petri dish. Our growth and success, just like those single-celled bacteria, are dependent on the quality of the environment we are in. Without the necessary ingredients, we can’t survive. With the right ingredients, we thrive.
Many blame themselves for their failures, shortcomings, and even illnesses. But a big thing I took away from those bacteria experiments is that the right ingredients (conditions) are necessary for survival, growth, and optimal living. Without the right conditions all of your potential, hard work, and opportunities could be useless.
Here’s the good news… you can improve your conditions. You have the ability change the environment you surround yourself in to increase your odds of succeeding. And this control is not just limited to remaining alive, but to maximizing your health, solidifying your financial security, optimizing your marriage and other relationships, and improving any other area of your life.
The key is putting yourself in an environment that provides you with what you need to succeed. The food you have in your house… the people you spend time with… the amount of time you spend moving and exercising each day… the time you go to bed… the time you wake up… and the material you read are ALL within your control. Improve these things and your chances of success in ANYTHING go way up.
What’s fascinating (to me, anyway) is that you can take a healthy cell out of a nutrient-dense Petri dish and put it in a Petri dish lacking nutrients, and that healthy cell will become sick. And you can take a sick cell that is in a Petri dish that lacks ample nutrients, put it in a nutrient-dense Petri dish, and it will become healthy. It isn’t the cell… it’s the environment.
You have what you need to be well, to grow, and to flourish. That innate intelligence, health, and magical potential is within you right now. The environment with either stifle you… or amplify you. Take a good hard look at what’s in your Petri dish. Focus on changing what you can this next year, or even the next couple of days. Any positive change in your environment pushes you closer to the success, and life, you’ve always wanted and dreamed of.
