What's New

The key to character

Evesham

What is it that changes us? Do we want to change? What does it mean to change?

This is a subject that consumes a lot of my thinking time. Change. Everything changes, we all know it to be true and yet we try and resist it. Most of us like things the way they are, we are comfortable in environments that don't stretch and challenge us. If things don't come easy, well just move on to the next. Now, it has to be said that this is me to a tea. For years I have longed for an exciting life, a life of success and growth, a life that means something. And yet, part of me wants all of that without any commitment from me. Somehow I am going to be this 'great person' and it just going to fall into my lap. I don't need to take a risk, I don't need to work at it- I deserve this recognition! It's me don't you know! I would like to think that I was alone in thinking this way but a quick look on YouTube, Twitter or TV seems to indicate that there are many people who want the fame but perhaps not the work. In this modern era, getting known is pretty easy. Tweet lots, put up videos, share content and there will probably be several thousand people following you, liking you. But for what? What is it that you want, what impact do you want to make, what do you want to be remembered for?

Being willing to change, being open to new possibilities is fundamental to developing our character. Being committed to something is vital for life. Martin Luther King Jr suggested that anyone who did not have something worth dying for, did not deserve to live. This is an extreme view that is probably not applicable in all situations but the underlying truth stands. In order for us to truly live, requires something that we are willing to lose our life for. Now this may not actually be out physical lives, it may be aspects of our lives that we are willing to lay down in order that we can change. Leaving parts of our lives to die, in order that we can more fully live is unlikely to be painless process. Yet it is in doing this that we can become the people we want to be, who we always hoped we could be. And so it is in the pain of laying down the old parts of our life that we learn to be thankful, because we know that this process will produce perserverance and persevrance will build character. We will be changed, but it probably won't be a pleasant experience.

Now that we are flying through 2019, what are the things in your life that you are willing to allow to die? What is holding you back from achieving your dreams? What risks are you willing to take? Change will produce character, character will produce change, the question is are you going to take a leap of faith and grasp what is availble? But remember that you may be weighted down by the 'stuff' that you carry- get rid of it before you jump!!!