Without Change We Wouldn’t have Growth
I’m watching another installment of Oprah’s Lifeclass with Pastor Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life” and one thing in particular he has just talked about is something that sparked my interest immediately:
“The Transitions of Life”
“There is no growth without change, no change without loss and no loss without pain and that is Grief.” “Fear and Resentment are the things that will hold you back.”
Pastor Rick Warren’s definition of the difference between success and significance:
– “Everybody’s life is driven by something.
– There are a lot of successful people whose lives are driven by guilt.
– There are a lot of successful people who are driven by the approval of others.”
“If you live for the approval of others, you will die by their rejection”
“The two biggest barriers to you fulfilling your purpose in life is envy and people pleasing.
– Envy is, I must be like you to be happy.
– People pleasing is, I must be liked by you to be happy.
Those two things will cause you to miss God’s purpose for your life!
You have to live for an audience of one!
I found that these statements are very powerful because our emotions, like fear and resentment can become so ingrained within us that it can start to control us whether we want it to or not. These two emotions especially can keep you from experiencing and progressing through your life as you are meant to.
Fear can be paralyzing, it can prevent you from taking the risks that may improve your life in more ways than you can imagine and can cause you to doubt your own capabilities.
Resentment can be imprisoning because it can cause you to replay, over and over, events in your life that were damaging to your emotional state of being and by continuing to hold on to that resentment you will likely feel the hurt of those memories often, possibly even daily.
Loss, whether someone has passed on or a relationship has run its course transitions us to grief and during that grief process is the opportunity for healing. All things change even if we don’t think we want them to but every ending is the beginning of something new.
These transitions, once recognized for their true meaning, can change your entire life if you let it, especially when you allow yourself to have faith that “all things will work out as they should, and when they should”. I believe in that statement and even when things feel unknown I am very confident that at some point it will all make sense and usually it does! I don’t challenge the timing of when that light bulb will go on and I’ll figure out how all those pieces of the puzzle fit together, I would drive myself crazy if I did that! I just know that whatever the outcome is it will be what is best for me and that it’s all part of the bigger picture of my life that I will eventually come into.
When looking back 5 or even 10 years I couldn’t have possibly guessed that I would be where I am at now and I have such anticipation for what the next chapters of my life hold. I’m excited and hopeful for a future that is fitting of the transitions that I’ve had in my life so far. Of course I have ideas and dreams of where I want my future to go but so far everything I’ve thought had in my sights has turned into something completely different and better so I know that whatever direction is mapped out for my future is one that I will fit into comfortably.
Shelley Hallmark 