Learning Curve

Our education doesn't stop the moment we walk across a stage to receive a diploma or degree. It's actually a lifelong process of constant lessons. How effective these lessons are depends on our awareness of them and our receptivity to what they are teaching us. 

The books we read, the people we interact with, the life events we experience, and the decisions we make all have the opportunity to shape us. Much like our time in an actual classroom however, we must be prepared to receive the lesson to take full advantage of what it has to offer. 

Not all lessons are pleasant to endure, but they can all be beneficial if we eventually apply what we've been taught. 

Desire for Flavor

A friend of mine would frequently go on a diet to lose some quick pounds. He kept a pretty strict plan while he was on it and was careful about each food item he ate. He had one quirky behavior while on this plan however. When he had the desire for something sweet, he would chew up a brownie and then spit it out before swallowing it. His thought was that this gave him the taste of chocolate, but it didn't give him the calories he was trying to avoid.

If we take in teaching or an experience and are emotionally stirred but don't apply it to our lives, we are doing the same thing. We've had a taste of something, but haven't ingested it to let it have an impact on our life. If we aren't changed in some way (even minimally) we haven't really committed ourselves to what we've experienced.

Keep Turning

There’s an illustration I’ve read about a giant, heavy flywheel. A person is charged with turning it and has a very difficult time getting it to move because of its weight. They keep pushing on it and start to see it inch forward and it still takes an hour to make one revolution. After consistently applying pressure, the wheel starts to pick up speed. Eventually, the weight of the wheel begins to work to help the spinning movement until it finally rocks along in a steady rhythm. The question is asked: what turn of the wheel was the one that moved it faster? Was it the 1500th or the 110th spin that made the difference? The truth is that every push of the wheel helped to make it happen. They all contributed to the momentum.

Transformation and opportunity in our lives are the result of all the decisions we have made to this point. There isn’t one choice that has radically changed our lives, but the sum total has created momentum for us to move forward. Don’t neglect the power of the moment you are living in and how it contributes to positive movement. Even when things don’t seem to be going forward our focused efforts will help us in the long run.

Our future destination is found in the sum of our life experiences.

Shaping Life

“Incident piled on incident no more makes life 

than brick piled on brick makes a house.” 

Edith Ronald Mirrielees

If you want to build something worthwhile, you’ve got to take the raw material and shape it into what you desire. We don’t always get to decide what our supplies will be, but we can determine how we’ll use what we’ve been given. We forfeit the right to complain about the product if we won’t invest ourselves in the process.

Our Voice

We all have something to say. I don't mean we all have a list of rants that need to be aired, although we might feel that is true too. Instead I believe there is something of deep importance and value our lives have been preparing us to share. We are each uniquely positioned to have an impact and to speak out of the overflow of our experiences and gifts. Before we speak, however, we need to ask a few questions:

• Are we humble enough to add our voice to those around us without diminishing their importance?
• When do we choose to speak? Is is when the circumstances are right or simply when we feel we need to be heard above others?
• How do we say it? What tone and attitude do we use when we share it?
• Are we speaking for the benefit of others or for self-validation? 

It's not enough to recognize that we need to speak, but that we learn to do so at the right time for the greatest possible benefit. Our individual stories have power and value. Don't neglect to share your own, but add to the grand tale that is being written through each of us.

Experienced?

If we want today to be a different experience than a year ago we have to change something in us. We either adopt lasting habits, learn new skills, take some risks, or choose to react in different ways to our environment. It's the changes we make each year that create unique experiences for us. If we are unwilling to engage in something new, we shouldn't expect to see something we haven't already seen.

Doing the exact same thing for 20 years doesn't give us 20 years of experience. It gives us one year of experience repeated 20 times.

Need An Adjustment?

Our attitude changes our experiences. If we expect to walk into a room and find something positive we can almost be assured of it happening. If we anticipate that only negative things are going to occur then we are most certainly going to end up seeing it in that light. Most of the time we set ourselves up to react to our environment before we ever get there. I don't think we can change every set of circumstances just by adjusting our expectations, but I think we'll find more good than bad when we align ourselves on a positive path.

What Defines Me?

My calling is to be a pastor, but is that truly who I am? I am a husband, father, son, brother, and friend, but do those relationships define me entirely? I am here today as a sum of my past experiences (delightful, awful, and mundane) and my reactions to those experiences, but do those additive moments fully describe me? They are all part of my mental, emotional, and spiritual development regardless of how well or how poorly I have chosen to act in the past.

I am more than I appear to be. I know this because of my confidence in Christ which gives me hope beyond my current circumstances. Even armed with this knowledge I still struggle to find my place and my way in this life. How much more do those without that some confidence battle to discover their true identity? It can only be completely found in one place. Anything less is a poor substitute that leaves us confused and desperately searching for the real truth.

Set the Tone

 Our attitude sets the tone for our experience.

If we anticipate a positive interaction or a negative one we will usually be correct. Nothing ever flows exactly as we expect, but our attitude can make the difference in how we view the outcome. This is true of personal encounters, job situations, community experiences, and even church services. We can either learn to expect the best or anticipate the worst. We will find that what we set ourselves up for is what we end up experiencing.

Uncertainty

There will be many times in our personal and professional lives when we are unsure of what to do next. We will be in new parenting territory, dealing with unforeseen medical issues, struggling through financial difficulties, preparing for job transitions, and in uncharted relationship waters. The amount of change we are facing may seem overwhelming and we can become desperate as we search for the right answers. We may become overly anxious as we look for the exact right thing to say and do that will make everything better. The truth is that we may not be fully equipped to handle the situation in the "best" manner. Obviously, as a man of faith, I have confidence that God will fill in the gaps of my imperfect nature, but that doesn't negate the need for personal responsibility and action. It's in these uncertain times that I advise people to:

Do the best you can, where you are,

with what you know, and what you have.

This is not a perfect formula for immediate success, but it really is the best that we are able to personally invest at this point. Accept the position that you are in, prayerfully consider the abilities that you have, the sum total of your experiences, and then make the best decision possible under the circumstances. There's no guarantee that it will be the right one, but you can have confidence that you have done the best you can if you follow that simple model. Hopefully we'll learn from this particular experience enough (both the successes and failures) to help us in future circumstances.

To Sum Up

We are the sum total of our life experiences. Each positive or painful memory, small thought or grand idea, encouraging or unkind word, minuscule habit or overpowering addiction have all formed who we are today and the person we will become tomorrow. 

I don't know that many people recognize the impact of these small decisions and our reactions. I believe that we tend to move forward without giving intentional thought to the pieces that are building our future. To find maturity and the greatest growth we've got to take a step back from the small picture so that we can begin to understand how our whole life fits together. If we neglect this step we'll find ourselves on an unintended road with confusing surroundings and no idea how we can change our circumstances.