Growth

The past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about the way we learn and grow. As missionaries we exercise for thirty minutes. I'm no body builder, but I've noticed that day after day I've gotten a bit stronger. My companion has a pull-up bar and so at the beginning of the month I started doing pull ups and chin ups each morning and evening.



 At first it was really hard and I couldn't do very many, but I kept at it, day after day, and it seemed to get easier. I could do more and more and I continued getting stronger and stronger. Now the pull up stays the same. Whether I can do one or one-hundred, the physical force necessary to complete my task remains the same, but my capacity to accomplish the task increases slowly and incrementally.

The same is true when we try to acquire new skills, If I wanted to learn a new instrument when I first pick it up it may be very difficult. But it doesn't remain that way. We are not static creatures, we change, we grow, and we learn. We are meant and created to progress. By practising 45 minutes each evening for a month, anyone could get to a workable level of performance.

I've noticed that many of the happiest moments I've had in my life have revolved around some form of progression. If we want joy and fulfilment in our lives we need to accomplish and progress. If I claimed I wasn't talented, or that I was weak, or I wasn't smart, all I would be saying is that I wasn't willing to put in the necessary effort to grow. There is very little growth in the comfort zone.

It is like a seed. If we plant it, and if we just try something new, exercise a little faith, we can accomplish a lot more than we think we can. Nurture the seed, water it, give it light, if you neglect it it will only wither. So it is with every aspect of our lives. A little grit and hard work go a long way, and when we do all we can we will notice that the next day we can do a bit more.