Wow, this question really hits close to home. I don’t know exactly how many of the last twenty-five years I have spent surviving, but I know it was too many.  In fact, for a while it was probably so bad that I didn’t even realize it.

I recently heard a church sermon on the idea of why it is important to thrive.  The Pastor talked about thriving both physically and spiritually.  These are both important to me, but I believe the concept can apply to any area of our life.

For a long time I had lived in that survival mode.  Waking up each day, already overwhelmed with the things that I never finished yesterday, let alone the list for today.  As I look back on those times, I see the impact that feeling “two weeks” behind all the time had on me.

Full transparency here, most of this was my own doing.  Life is about choices, and I was not making very good ones.  In an effort to under-promise and over-deliver, I was really doing the opposite.  The worst part of this is that my family was generally the one not getting the attention they deserved.

I came up with all kinds or reasons to justify my actions and behaviors.  In fact, this went on long enough, that I totally believed it to be true.  My addiction to survival was keeping me from thriving.  Three things I heard in that sermon really add some clarity to why it is important to thrive.

1.  WHEN WE THRIVE, WE HAVE A BETTER PERSPECTIVE ON THE BIG PICTURE.

Surviving results in a limited view of the possibilities that are available to us.  We are consumed with the “now” and don’t have the vision to see what the future holds.  When we spend all our energy on what is not done yet, we are simply unable to plan for what we could be doing.

Thriving adds a new dynamic to our conscious thought.  We gain the perspective on what a better world and a better life look like and can visualize what our potential could lead to. Simply put, thriving allows us to live, and live fully.  Thriving is the only way to live out our purpose.  Surviving is living out someone else’s.

2.  WHEN WE THRIVE, WE PRODUCE INTERNAL ENERGY.

Do you feel tired or overwhelmed with life?  Do you feel like you just have no energy left?  The reality is that surviving sucks the energy out of us.  We get up, struggle to get done what is on the “list” and wonder why we can’t seem to get the things done that we really want to.

When we thrive in life, the excitement and momentum built through that living produces energy.  That energy will continue to build and “now what” in a negative sense becomes “what’s next” in a positive sense.  How would you like to wake up everyday excited about what is going to happen.

3.  WHEN WE THRIVE, WE EXHIBIT AN EXTERNAL GLOW.

No, I am not getting weird on you here, but think about it – can’t you tell which people are enjoying life and which are merely enduring it simply by the look on their face, their attitude and the way they act?  Think about a vegetable garden.  Picture one that is thriving as compared to one that is only surviving.  People are no different.  Those that are thriving are easily identifiable by their outward appearance.

At the end of the day you have choices to make.  If you want to thrive, start doing the things you have to do today so that you can do the things you want to do tomorrow.

So two questions for you …

• 1.  What do you have to do?
• 2.  What do you want to do?

The more important question might be in how long it has been since you even asked these questions!

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Barry Smith   www.buildingwhatmatters.com   1/21/13            photo by author