Growing On Purpose.

"If we're going to grow, it has to be intentional."  ... John Maxwell

Yep.

We don't oops! Accidentally grow wiser, bolder, happier, wealthier or--heaven knows--slimmer.

Ever known Christians who are the same ol' bitter sad sacks they were 20 years ago? Yeah, me too.

We must consciously choose to grow, make choices to be prepared, aim at something lest we hit nothing. You know, like the five wise virgins who sat around waiting for the bridegroom:


"...all (10) virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’  (from Matthew 25)

Now, isn't that the way it still goes Today? The Unprepared come and ask favors of the Prepared.

Well, in 2013 I'm aiming at not morphing into one of the whining Unprepared.

No, my goal is to, step by step, become prepared for anything. Spiritual, financial, mental, physical and any other 'al-ending-word' I can think of. 

The times, they are a changin' (I'm thinking 2013 might be a year of Changes We All Didn't See Coming) and I'm committed to change before them, in good ways, so that I'll be prepared. 

For--again--anything.

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Commitment. It's time to stop dreading commitment and fearing failure. And do it. Just do it until we form new habits which will help us finish what we start ... helping us become people we always wished we could be.

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The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.  ... Proverbs 20:4

(Oh dear!)

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Parts of my so-so post came from this awesome video.

John  Maxwell has a new book out which sounds terrific:  The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. I copied these chapter titles from amazon.com:

1. Law of Intentionality - Growth doesn't just happen.
2. Law of Awareness - You must know yourself to grow yourself.
3. Law of the Mirror - You must see value in yourself to add value to yourself.
4. Law of Reflection. Learning to pause allows growth to catch up with you.
5. Law of Consistency. Motivation gets you going. Discipline keeps you growing.
6. Law of Environment: Growth thrives in conducive surroundings.
7. Law of Design: To maximize growth develop strategies.
8. Law of Pain. Good management of bad experiences leads to great growth.
9. Law of ladder. Character growth determines the height of your personal growth.
10. Law of the rubber band. Growth stops when you lose the tension of where you are and where you could be.
11. Law of tradeoffs. You have to give up to go up.
12. Law of Curiosity. Growth is stimulated in asking why.
13. Law of Modeling. It's hard to improve when you have no one but yourself to follow.
14. Law of expansion. Growth always increases your capacity.
15. Law of Contribution. Growing yourself enables you to grow others.

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A special thanks to those of you who reminded me about the book, Little Heathens. I have a copy, but hadn't finished reading it.... so again, thank-you!


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