“Maturity does not come with age, sometimes age comes alone.”

The following excerpt is from a graduation speech at Princeton in 1954 from Adlai Stevenson:

“What a man knows at fifty that he did not know at twenty is, for the most part, incommunicable. The laws, the aphorisms, the generalizations, the universal truths, the parables and the old saws—all of the observations about life which can be communicated handily in ready, verbal packages—are as well-known to a man at twenty who has been attentive as to a man at fifty. He has been told them all, he has read them all, and he has probably repeated them all before he graduates from college; but he has not lived them all.

What he knows at fifty that he did not know at twenty boils down to something like this: The knowledge he has acquired with age is not the knowledge of formulas, or forms of words, but of people, places, actions—a knowledge not gained by words but by touch, sight, sound, victories, failures, sleeplessness, devotion, love—the human experiences and emotions of this earth and of oneself and other men; and perhaps, too, a little faith, and a little reverence for things you cannot see.”

We all need to be students of life. The younger we are, the less experience we have,  so we need to borrow experience. We all should be meeting with mentors that are older than us who have lived out the principles we learn about every day. We should be asking them about their battles, their victories, their defeats, and what they learned along the way.

We should read history. Read biographies and autobiographies of great leaders. Gain wisdom from the insights they took away from a lifetime of experiences.

If you’re older, share your experience with others younger than you. You have the potential to make a huge difference in their life!

Get all the life experience you can get, and what you cannot get now, borrow from someone who has been there!

Thoughts?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. -Proverbs 3:5-6

Have you ever made your own plans for your life? Have you ever worked so hard at something and in the end, all of your efforts got you nowhere? You felt like you were making progress, but you weren’t. You become tired and frustrated.

On the other hand, haven’t there been times where you trusted God with your life, plans, and dreams and you got farther faster, you made more progress, you did not get worn out, and you enjoyed every second of the journey? I have been in both of these scenarios.

I equate making my own plans and trying to do things in my own strength to running on a treadmill. You think you’re making progress, but you’re not actually going anywhere! You are just wasting time and energy. 

I find myself in that place often. Trying to make something of myself. Trying to go places no man has ever gone before! The end result is often feeling like I am running on a treadmill and having God pat me on the back and say, “Keep going son . . . you are going reaalllyyyy far in life!” (I’m sure God is sarcastic at times!)

Too often I live my life by 60% of my plans and 40% of God’s and it gets me nowhere. God wants all of my heart, all of my dreams, all of my desires, and all of my life.

When we choose to surrender everything to Him, that is when we will start making progress. Until then, we’re just running in place.

Give up your plans for His today. Trust Him.

Thoughts? 

Here are some scriptures for you think dwell on:

A person may plan his own journey, but the LORD directs his steps. -Proverbs 16:9

For apart from me you can do nothing. -John 15:5

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. -James 4:13-16

“In the beginning, you’re not as bad as people think you are, but if you do things right in life, in the end, you’re not as good as people think you are. Somewhere in between those two, is where you ought to live.” -John Maxwell

Success is a journey, not a destination. The more you grow, the more you will recognize you need to grow. That is a fact of life. You will never arrive. You will always need to keep growing.

I remember talking to a mentor when I was 18 years old. I had just finished my first year of interning at a church. I asked my mentor, “How did you get where you are today? You’re amazing!” He said, “Bubba, look back on the past year, did you grow a lot?” “Oh yea! I grew a ton!” I replied. “I’ve been growing like that for 25 years. Just keep growing. Keep getting better.”

That conversation made me recognize that if I will do my best to grow and get better everyday, I will become the person God wants me to become and be able to handle whatever God wants me to do.

After 9 years of growing intentionally, I have noticed that things I had to grow through at 18 seem like nothing compared to what I am growing through now. In fact, things I had to grow through last year seem small compared to what I am growing through today! Always remember that the things you are growing through now will seem small five years from now, if you make the decision to keep growing.

It’s easy to get discouraged while we’re trying to grow because sometimes it seems like we’re not growing at all. If we think we have to grow through those things in a day, week, month, or year, we’ll most likely get frustrated give up. If we choose to just work on those things on a daily basis and recognize that any progress is progress, we’ll grow through whatever we need to grow through.

Joyce Meyer often says, “I’m not where I’m supposed to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be!” I think it would do all of us good to reflect on that statement often. Keep reminding yourself that growth is a journey, not a destination. There will always be another battle to fight, character issues to mature, and skill sets that need improvement.

Don’t get discouraged in your pursuit of personal growth. Remember that growth happens daily, not in a day.

Make the choice to grow everyday. Recognize you will always need to be growing.

Keep growing. Keep getting better.

Looking back 5 years from now, I think you’ll be surprised how much you’ve grown if you daily made the decision to get better.

Thoughts?