Relationships
As a Christian, I believe that God gives us resources and relationships to help us along life's journey. Resources comprise time, talent and treasury, but it is relationships which is key. Relationships is what allow us to grow and progress to the next level. and vice versa. If you don't believe me, look at the major changes and milestones in your life, and there will invariably be someone you can credit or blame. As with most principles, this one cuts both ways too.
Which means that to grow, we need to leverage on the experiences and wisdom of those who are higher up on life's ladder. Please don't get me wrong - I'm not looking at people in an utilitarian way to meet our selfish needs. As human beings, we're not islands unto ourselves. We need relationships to survive and flourish because that's how we are created. We also need relationships to reach our potential. How many times do we hear of an inspiring teacher, friend, boss,or elder making a great impact to some one's life.
But what does that mean to us? What it means is that if you're the smartest person in your group of friends, you need new friends. I'm not suggesting that you jettison your existing friends. But you'll never go beyond your current level unless you know others higher up on life's ladder. In practice, this means that you need to reorder the relationships in your life. Your existing friends may not appreciate or like what you're doing. But their refusal to move up should not cause you to stay at your current level indefinitely. Once you've fulfilled your dream, be it getting that post-graduate degree, scoring a better paying job, dating that person you've been wanting to etc, you can go back and try to level up your friends.
Truth be told, friends stay together because they resonate with each other. And they do that because they have similar backgrounds, beliefs or likings. But this means that you'll never do anything different unless you meet new friends who challenge you to think differently and do different things. For how do you expect to change for the better if you continue doing the same thing day after day, month after month and year after year. And that applies to hanging out with your friends too.
Which means that to grow, we need to leverage on the experiences and wisdom of those who are higher up on life's ladder. Please don't get me wrong - I'm not looking at people in an utilitarian way to meet our selfish needs. As human beings, we're not islands unto ourselves. We need relationships to survive and flourish because that's how we are created. We also need relationships to reach our potential. How many times do we hear of an inspiring teacher, friend, boss,or elder making a great impact to some one's life.
But what does that mean to us? What it means is that if you're the smartest person in your group of friends, you need new friends. I'm not suggesting that you jettison your existing friends. But you'll never go beyond your current level unless you know others higher up on life's ladder. In practice, this means that you need to reorder the relationships in your life. Your existing friends may not appreciate or like what you're doing. But their refusal to move up should not cause you to stay at your current level indefinitely. Once you've fulfilled your dream, be it getting that post-graduate degree, scoring a better paying job, dating that person you've been wanting to etc, you can go back and try to level up your friends.
Truth be told, friends stay together because they resonate with each other. And they do that because they have similar backgrounds, beliefs or likings. But this means that you'll never do anything different unless you meet new friends who challenge you to think differently and do different things. For how do you expect to change for the better if you continue doing the same thing day after day, month after month and year after year. And that applies to hanging out with your friends too.
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