Room to Grow

P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

Room to Grow
One of the common complaints of people in our time is the monotony and boredom of life. I have a sneaking suspicion that this slant on life contributes to what we call “burnout.” I suspect it also plays a role in certain high-risk behaviours that range from driving too fast to getting caught up in a marriage-destroying affair, or to experimenting on drugs. Friends, monotony and boredom are self-inflicted wounds to the human spirit. If you have a routine, lackluster, and sometimes tedious job, that does not mean you have to live a routine, lacklustre, and tedious life. Perhaps you need to change jobs, but that’s not always possible - or necessary. Perhaps you simply need to give yourself some additional space to grow. Perhaps you’ve been to the Agricultural Show and seen some cucumbers grown inside soft drink bottles or pumpkins grown in glass containers. Young plants placed inside containers grow to the space they have. They take on the contours and limits of their surroundings. I understand that it works with animals too. For instance, put a young fish whose species normally grows reasonably large into a tiny aquarium, and its full adult size will be suppressed because of the strictly limited space it was given. The same thing is true of people. We grow to the intellectual space we have. We take on the dull or positive contours of our emotional environments. We are big-hearted or parsimonious due to the spiritual influences that mould us. But this is not to say that we are helpless victims of circumstances beyond out control. Because, no matter what your job or current life predicament may be, you can choose the setting for your soul. You can give yourself room to grow. For your body: eat sensibly, get enough sleep, exercises regularly, and stay away from tobacco and the abuse of alcohol. For your mind: read good literature, listen to inspirational-educational cassettes in your car, expand your vocabulary, and keep clear of the pollution of pornography and vulgarity. For your spirit: worship, meditate on Scripture, invest yourself in service to others, and refuse to live in the spiritual bondage of cynics, or bitterness over a “bad break” life has dealt you. Friends, to be a big-hearted, happy and complete person is not the unanticipated destiny of a privileged few. It is the preordained outcome for anyone who chooses to look beyond limitation to possibility and learns to see an opportunity in every problem. Like the prophet Isaiah said, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31) I sincerely hope the message I have shared with you today may help you find and enjoy a better life. Your comments and questions may be addressed to me at: Email me or write to me at P.O Box 1540, Albany W.A 6331. Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418

Room to Grow

One of the common complaints of people in our time is the monotony and boredom of life. I have a sneaking suspicion that this slant on life contributes to what we call “burnout.” I suspect it also plays a role in certain high-risk behaviours that range from driving too fast to getting caught up in a marriage-destroying affair, or to experimenting on drugs.

Friends, monotony and boredom are self-inflicted wounds to the human spirit. If you have a routine, lackluster, and sometimes tedious job, that does not mean you have to live a routine, lacklustre, and tedious life. Perhaps you need to change jobs, but that’s not always possible - or necessary. Perhaps you simply need to give yourself some additional space to grow.

Perhaps you’ve been to the Agricultural Show and seen some cucumbers grown inside soft drink bottles or pumpkins grown in glass containers. Young plants placed inside containers grow to the space they have. They take on the contours and limits of their surroundings.

I understand that it works with animals too. For instance, put a young fish whose species normally grows reasonably large into a tiny aquarium, and its full adult size will be suppressed because of the strictly limited space it was given.

The same thing is true of people. We grow to the intellectual space we have. We take on the dull or positive contours of our emotional environments. We are big-hearted or parsimonious due to the spiritual influences that mould us. But this is not to say that we are helpless victims of circumstances beyond out control. Because, no matter what your job or current life predicament may be, you can choose the setting for your soul. You can give yourself room to grow.

For your body: eat sensibly, get enough sleep, exercises regularly, and stay away from tobacco and the abuse of alcohol. For your mind: read good literature, listen to inspirational-educational cassettes in your car, expand your vocabulary, and keep clear of the pollution of pornography and vulgarity. For your spirit: worship, meditate on Scripture, invest yourself in service to others, and refuse to live in the spiritual bondage of cynics, or bitterness over a “bad break” life has dealt you.

Friends, to be a big-hearted, happy and complete person is not the unanticipated destiny of a privileged few. It is the preordained outcome for anyone who chooses to look beyond limitation to possibility and learns to see an opportunity in every problem.

Like the prophet Isaiah said, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31)

I sincerely hope the message I have shared with you today may help you find and enjoy a better life. Your comments and questions may be addressed to me at:

Email me
or write to me at
P.O Box 1540,
Albany W.A 6331.

Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418