I wasn't exactly the normal girl growing up. Wait, take that back. I'm still not a normal girl and I'm a teen now. There are the girls that bought Barbies, baby dolls, play make up and that stuff. I can be summed up pretty good by the picture above. I was usually off doing something odd. It could be anything from making a centuar body out of cardboard boxes to sitting on a pile of dirt and seeing just how dirty I could get!
Now, I'm not doing that kind of stuff now. I've changed it to different things. Like river swimming and bow hunting. But I notice that I was having a big problem. I was getting sucked into the "teen" category. That may sound really weird, but it has a big meaning behind it.
What do you think of when you think of a Teen. (If you're a teen I'm still asking you to be honest) Maybe things such as,
- Parties
- Video Games and computers
- High School.
- Hanging out with friend
- And then there are the bad things that teens do. (I needs to list those)
- Work
- Responsibility
- Bills
- Lack of spare time
- And the millions of other things adults do.
A lot of this has to do with the laws. A teen can't really get a full time job at 13. At least, not by the world's standard.(More on that another time) So what does that leave teens with? A whole lot of extra time to goof off and do...well...nothing. Teens have hours and hours when they don't have anything to do.
Stay with me now and picture this. Stop squirming because it's only going to get more uncomfortable. What if every teen took that extra time to do something? They took the extra, say, 4-5 hours to develop a skill instead of playing a video game or watching TV. What would happen? You would get a lot of teens that have great skills and know how to use their time effectively. Then once they get to college, they know what they want to do with their life.
At our house there are two words you don't EVER say. "I'm bored." As soon as those words are out of your mouth a mom or dad will pop out of nowhere and begin dishing out jobs. After that you will be doing something for the rest of the day. When I was younger I just hated that. I didn't want to work! I wanted to do something fun! But it's helped change me. Now that I'm a teen when I'm bored, I look for a job to do. 1: Because I know it helps the family. 2: What else am I going to do? At least I'm doing something. I'm living by Chokmah because I'm not just wasting the time God's given me. (See http://chokmahkishron.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-successful-life.html)
Now does it have to always be work? Not always. I said I didn't want to get sucked into the "teen" category. So I had to run and get out of it. That doesn't come naturally. You have to focus and work on it. I started learning Spanish. (Don't ask me to try and speak yet though) I'm using the extra time I have to learn and grow. I take more time to study the bible and learn about our amazing God. I started by really working hard to be good in school. Not being satisfied with "good enough"
I started teaching myself guitar a year ago. No particular reason for that one. I love music but I couldn't bring myself to play piano. I took lessons for a year and decided the piano just wasn't something I enjoyed. My mom has always had her guitar in the corner and nobody knew how to play. So I picked it up and started hammering Google. At first I was satisfied with "good enough" playing - like I was with school. But I realized it wasn't helping me. Sure I could play a good celtic jig, but I would hit a few stale notes and I didn't mind doing that. At first
I started to push myself and actually Work (Yes work) on being really good. Amazing guitar players don't get good by just diddlying around on the strings. I played a song over and over until the notes were clear. I worked my hands to be stronger. I had to push myself to go beyond what was comfortable. You'll never learn new things if you don't move from the subjects you know. I'll never grow stronger if you don't push your body to do more. Now I can play a really good celtic jig, faster, better and it's more fun. I finish playing with a feeling of accomplishment - knowing that I've done something.
Don't stay in the teenager mindset. You can always do something!
What are you doing now? Are you pursuing college? Great! Now focus on what you hope to accomplish! Don't do it just because. Are you applying for jobs? Cool! Now focus on what skills you hope to gain by that. Skills that will affect you down the road. Still in High School? Two positive thumbs up! You have SO much time on your hands to develop skills that God has given you!
1 Corinthians 12: 7-11 says. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
The most important thing though, is to stay tuned with God. He has a plan for you and wants to help you. God holds that stars in place and sets the galaxies spinning. He knew who you were before you were born. He can see things down the road that you can't. Trust Him. He's the guide with the lantern and you need to hold his hand or you will fall in the dark.
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."
P.S If you have never read the book Do Hard Things - by Alex and Bret Harris. I highly suggest you give it a try.
Each human is unique, but most are afraid of "being different." As one, who in some way never grew up, I say boldly, "Never be afraid of being yourself, but avoid those who can't take a joke." Too many insecure people spend their lives making others feel insecure. By the way, keep writing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Mr.Lake!!! I totally agree with what you said! God made everybody different for a reason. Otherwise it would be a really boring world. And God made laughter for a really good reason! Laughter actually lowers stress levels and boosts your immune system!
DeleteEvery so often GOOGLE sends me a notice to look at your blog, and it has done so tonight. I suppose it wants me to see your response, but why now is hard to determine. Still, I can see we share a common vision of what it means to be human. The suffering I endured as a kid from bullies who couldn't stand my "weirdness" has made me a defender of the socially rejected. Jesus got down and hung out with the rejects because He could see their goodness despite all the wounds obscuring the Image and Likeness within them. He called them because they had finally convinced themselves that nobody loved them. Good spirituality is also good psychotherapy, don't you think?
DeleteI agree. God is the bread of life and the living water. He can use hard situations from the past to prepare us for the future.
Delete"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." God used some pretty insignificant people to do amazing things. He also used the socially rejected. Paul was a Christian killer, the disciple Levi was a tax collector, and most of the disciples were fishermen. He can use anybody is we are attentive to His will!