Three Steps to Realizing Growth in the New Year

Growth is a fickle business. It requires generous doses of dreaming and planning with just the right amounts of realism and failure thrown in. Add too much realism and our feet get stuck in the now. Go heavy on the failure and we sink in the past. 

Stuck in the Negative

Have you ever been asked to fill out a form asking for your strengths and weaknesses? If yes, my guess is you’ve found it much easier to fill up the space under weaknesses. Most of us do. 

Why is it we are so quick to identify the negative while unable to identify the positive. For instance, after a 45 minute presentation, I’ll find myself stewing about the one thing I never said or said poorly instead of acknowledging the 40 minutes of helpful content I did provide. 

It’s easy then to think it best not to fail at all. However,…

I’m honored to be guest posting at my friend Brent Peterson’s wonderful site on cultivating graceful habits for life.

Hoping to link up again this year with Ann Voskamp‘s 2014 Joy Dare. Find the linkup at A Holy Experience. Beginning where I left off in 2013. What a blessing! #2418–2438, read the entire list by clicking here.

• Helping Rach pray outloud using her device; Hike in the snow; My new camera!–not bad pictures
• New Year = new beginnings; Family games and movies to ring in the New Year; Snow plows!
• Wonderful gathering celebrating friendships; Plenty of leftovers–no cooking for a day or 2; Our finished barn–a haven
• Invigorating walk in frigid weather; Brilliant clear days; Hosting a roomful of people gathered to help Rach learn& grow
• Whisper of trees in the frosty canopy; Promise we are never alone (Matthew 28:20); Best backyard–even deer off the deck
• People God provides to fill us w/ truth; Gift of a wam shower; Cross country skiing in the quiet of morning
• A house less cluttered; Skyping w/ Mom and Dad half way across the country; Deep cold that gives time to pause & breathe