Thoughts On How People Grow.

When it comes to people. growth happens in too many ways to list here. Let's take three easy ones today. Fast, Slow, and somewhere inbetween(there is another term for that one) . The mountaintop experiences(as some call them)are the ones that bring about rapid change. We alter the course of our lives in a heartbeat as the result of something, someone, or a combination of the two. People's "firsts" can become the bookmarks by which they can actually see the very moment that their life changed for better or worse. I can already see I'm only going to be able to touch on one of the three today.
Pick one in your own mind and jot down on a slip of paper an important first. I've already done this. Mine is "my first drink of alcohol." (Don't go getting Schitzy on me here. I do not belong to a group or a club or any other association with fanatics that don't believe in alcohol in any manner shape or form.)That just happened to be the first one that came to mind today! It has forever changed me and the course of my life. We can never go back not even for a second in time, so this excercise is for the sake of perspective. Looking at one moment in time that changed us can be a fantastic help in realizing the potential of tomorrow. It has to do with that whole "self image" thing. To "grow" is to enter into the art of becoming who, what, where, and how we would like to see ourselves at some point in our future. For me it has been 41 years since that first encounter with beer. It has been a year and a half since my last. In the "between" time I have experienced every shade of color that accompanies a variety of lifestyles. The one I enjoy the most and take the greatest pride in is the "where" of "who" I've become. Here's how the fast change took place. It was at the lake and all the guys, my dad and uncles and their friends were fishing from the dock and some a ways off shore. I became the "official" beer tender for the keg they had on ice. They were having so much fun that I figured I might as well do it too. I drank a little and then a little more, until my legs got wobbly and my head spun. They all thought that I was just about the funniest thing they ever saw. So I got a thing in my head and when I wanted to be accepted and enjoyed by people later in life I drank. I'm NOT placing blame on anyone else for my choices. The growth at that moment was mine, and the years that followed were mine, and today is mine. Nobody else is responsible for that spurt of growth at any early age but me. How about the one that came to your mind? If this were a group type thing we'd all sit back and discuss that incident we wrote down and the extent to which it had an affect on the life we have today. Sometimes when we dig around the roots of the tree of our lives we uncover new insights on why, where, how, and who we are. This, in and of itself is growth, and may very well be the enabling force we use to begin to thrive once more. Many blessing to you as you check your "new growth." In Christ's Love, Preacher.