Ready. Set. Grow.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sometime ago, I was going through some of my mother’s belonging, and I came across a photo of a really cute baby. I showed her the photo and asked who the adorable baby was, and her response was, “That’s me!”, I burst into laughter because I couldn’t picture my strong, dependable mom as a helpless toddler who had to rely on her mom for everything. My picture of her has always been her as my mom – who is getting old, not as a naïve little girl! Then I realized one thing is inevitable -Growth!
Growth occurs in stages – we are born as babies, we are weaned, we crawl, we walk, we talk, we learn, we become teenagers, we rebel, we experiment, we crave independence, and then we develop into full grown adults. As adults, we have some form of freedom we didn’t have as babies; we are able to make our own decisions, we are stronger, better, wiser, and though we still make mistakes, we continuously learn from our slip-ups. We never really stop growing, yet it is important we put conscious efforts to grow in the right direction.
There are five (5) key areas of growth we need to keep working on:
- Spiritual Growth: We must increase our knowledge and faith in God and His Word, practice meditation and spend time in the presence of God. We must become Christlike in all that we do. Hebrews 5: 12 -14 put this succinctly, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
- Physical Growth: We must ensure we take good care of our bodies. Practice great exercise routine, eat good food, take great care of our skin, and get enough sleep. We must strive to keep our physical bodies in good shape.
- Emotional Growth: We must cultivate healthy ways of expressing our emotions, invest in empathetic intelligence, spend less time criticizing others, and more time celebrating successes. We must learn how to ask for help and be willing to render help to others too.
- Financial Growth: We need to learn how to gain control of our finances – invest, save for the future, start a viable business, stick to our budgets, avoid debts etc. We must avoid unnecessary expenses and set reasonable financial goals.
- Intellectual Growth: We must learn to stimulate our minds. Read books, learn a new language, keep a journal, play games that would aid our quantitative reasoning and decision-making. We must keep creating new ways to expand knowledge.
We need to develop a mindset of continuous growth. You are the only person who can determine the level of growth you wish to attain in life (with God’s help). You must discover your strengths, weaknesses, and have a vision. We must understand self-awareness. We can only reach our full potential when we keep growing! Trust me, the result will be amazing!
xo.