This post is going to be a bit of a continuation of the last post, or expand upon it, so if you didn’t read “Life is Good?” I would recommend you go back and read it first.
If my problem is that I rest on my laurels when life is good, how do I get beyond that? How do I push myself to continue to grow when I am comfortable “as is”? It occurs to me that the way to continue to grow, without waiting until I am suffering, and in enough pain to be willing to learn another of God’s lessons for me, is to put myself in uncomfortable situations.
How do I accomplish that? The simplest thing I can think of is to just start saying yes. How many times have I said no because I was close-minded? How about saying know due to fear? How about just outright being lazy? I say no to opportunities to try new things all the time. I fear I will look foolish or not succeed. How can I be of service to others if I am sitting at home on my couch all day rather than taking advantage of an opportunity that has been presented to me? To a certain degree, this seems like I am turning down opportunities that God is presenting to me, therefore taking control of my life again.
I have recently tried this a couple of times and the results have been fantastic. I have been travelling some lately, both for personal reasons and work. I always joke with my family that I don’t like people, or at least I don’t like people I don’t know. But the truth is, I am very uncomfortable starting a conversation with a stranger. I feel like I really just don’t know how to do it. Once the ice is broken though, I am generally at ease with it. I was recently presented with some advice on starting a conversation with a stranger. I was told to say “Hello” and see what happens. As it turns out, this is a great ice breaker. I also have stopped wearing my headphones while I have been travelling. Nothing says I don’t want to talk to you more than putting in headphones and watching a movie on my phone.
Because of this experiment, I have had some wonderful conversations and met some truly nice people. I got to have a discussion with a woman on her way to meet her husband. They were then travelling to Portugal to spend three weeks hiking down the coast. That sounds like a great vacation idea to me. I also met a whole bunch of football fans all on their way home to various places after having come to an NFL game. My point is, I can shut myself out from the world or I can take very simple steps, push my boundaries just a little and end up having some conversations with some very nice people. The result is, the trip passed by very quickly, and before I knew it, I was home!
The other experiment we conducted as a family was we recently went to church. I have been nervous about it but really wanted to go. When I proposed it to my family, my step-daughter was very enthusiastic about the idea, and my wife wasn’t too keen on it. That surprised me as we had attended church in the past a bit and she quite enjoyed it. She decided to attend, and in the end was very glad she did. We all agreed that the church we had chosen to attend presented a great spiritual message while still avoiding some of the trappings of organized religion that I still struggle with. All in all it was a great experience and we are going back this weekend.
So do I recommend for you that if you want to continue to grow spiritually you need to stop wearing headphones and start going to church? Absolutely not! What I do recommend is that you stop saying no when presented with opportunities. I plan on not letting fear, preconceived notions, laziness or any other illegitimate reason stop me from pushing my limits. I want to start saying yes when I have no legitimate reason to say no. Start taking chances and trying new things. I really don’t have anything to lose!