Chutes & Ladders
When it comes to board games, Chutes & Ladders may not be quite as iconic as Candy Land or Monopoly or have as funny of a name as Don't Wake Daddy, it is a board game that just about every child has played at one point or another. With Chutes & Ladders, getting to the top to win the game is often filled with the highs of moving on up and the lows of moving on down. Landing on the right square can put one at the top in an instant. Conversely, one can work one's way all the way up to the top and land on the wrong square with a chute that sends one back to the bottom. At the end of the game though, each player is further along than when they started, even if they didn't win.
Over the course of this year, I've found that life and improvement are more like Chutes & Ladders (or most children's board games) than I realized. With life, we can be taking steps in the right direction and feel like we're growing...only for us to hit a "chute" and take a step back. Going through these "chutes" can lead to all sorts of introspection and second guessing. What went wrong? Why/How did it go wrong? Was all of our growth just a mirage? Where do we go from here? Are we destined to stay here forever? One way to look at it is this: the bigger the chute or setback, the greater the hurt and confusion.
Conversely, there may be times in our lives where it feels like we aren't really going anywhere or it doesn't feel like things are getting better...only for us to hit a "ladder" and take a step forward. Going through a ladder leads to good feelings, a sense of accomplishment, and a heightened confidence. When we go up life's ladders, we feel good about ourselves and know that we're headed in the right direction.
In reality, the chutes and ladders we go up and down in our lives aren't going to be as volatile or drastic as they are in the board game. Still, there's a lesson that can be learned from all of this: just because we're going down a chute doesn't mean we haven't come a long way. It may not feel that way in the moment, unless we take a step back and look at where we started or where we've been.
One way to look at growth and improvement is through taking steps. If one starts at Point A and takes 3 steps forward followed by 1 step back, one has still taken 2 steps forward from where one started - and that accounts for the step back! That's how it truly goes in life. After taking a series of steps forward, we inevitably take a step or two back. When we inevitably take a step or two back, we can't let that discourage us - or let it become another step back. We have to pushing on and take heart in how far we've come.
As I reflect on the year that's been 2019, I've found myself living out Chutes & Ladders. I've learned that the growth process isn't a linear path, but one that has highs and lows. Oftentimes, the first step to growth has meant making a change or trying something new - and with a positive attitude, at that. There are inevitably growing pains and feedback along the way, but that is what helps us ultimately improve and get better. In reality, we never are done learning or finding ways to get better. If anything, it would be scary to think that we have reached our potential and are incapable of learning anymore or getting any better.
It is said that it is one grows (height wise) while one sleeps. In the same sense, a lot of growth and improvement in our lives can come when no one else is watching. On one hand, this can be frustrating, as it can make us feel as though no one sees our growth and wonder if it's all in vain. It can even cause us to second-guess ourselves and wonder if we actually are growing and getting better. But on the other hand, we can take heart in knowing that someone is always watching: God. God is ultimately our only audience, not anyone else. With that, we don't have to feel the need to "perform" and feel the need to show off and/or prove our growth to everyone. What matters is that God sees it and that we see it, not the rest of the world. After all, our growth and improvement should be for ourselves and for God, not the world.
While our growth ultimately is for God and ourselves, it is gratifying when that is recognized and noticed by others. That recognition reaffirms how we've felt or what we've seen. And though we shouldn't constantly be seeking validation or fishing for compliments, we can graciously receive others' recognition with grace and humility. Receiving recognition does have a way of encouraging us to keep going and work hard, as we now want to live up to that recognition bestowed upon us. For as gratifying it has been this year to receive recognition and encouragement from others, I know that what ultimately matters is what God thinks of me and that He is where I find my identity
Next week, I'll finish out the year with a "Life Lessons Learned from 2019" blog post, as I have in years past. To me, the overarching story of the year for me has been the ways God has been working in my life and drawn me nearer and closer to Him. A lot of that nearness came through the lows and pains from last year. While that has been tough to reconcile at times, I know in my heart that it was all worth it because of where it has brought me to today. If 2018 served as a chute for me, 2019 has served as a ladder. Although the ladders are admittedly more fun to experience than the chutes, we need them both to grow and improve. And I wouldn't want it any other way.
Over the course of this year, I've found that life and improvement are more like Chutes & Ladders (or most children's board games) than I realized. With life, we can be taking steps in the right direction and feel like we're growing...only for us to hit a "chute" and take a step back. Going through these "chutes" can lead to all sorts of introspection and second guessing. What went wrong? Why/How did it go wrong? Was all of our growth just a mirage? Where do we go from here? Are we destined to stay here forever? One way to look at it is this: the bigger the chute or setback, the greater the hurt and confusion.
Conversely, there may be times in our lives where it feels like we aren't really going anywhere or it doesn't feel like things are getting better...only for us to hit a "ladder" and take a step forward. Going through a ladder leads to good feelings, a sense of accomplishment, and a heightened confidence. When we go up life's ladders, we feel good about ourselves and know that we're headed in the right direction.
In reality, the chutes and ladders we go up and down in our lives aren't going to be as volatile or drastic as they are in the board game. Still, there's a lesson that can be learned from all of this: just because we're going down a chute doesn't mean we haven't come a long way. It may not feel that way in the moment, unless we take a step back and look at where we started or where we've been.
One way to look at growth and improvement is through taking steps. If one starts at Point A and takes 3 steps forward followed by 1 step back, one has still taken 2 steps forward from where one started - and that accounts for the step back! That's how it truly goes in life. After taking a series of steps forward, we inevitably take a step or two back. When we inevitably take a step or two back, we can't let that discourage us - or let it become another step back. We have to pushing on and take heart in how far we've come.
As I reflect on the year that's been 2019, I've found myself living out Chutes & Ladders. I've learned that the growth process isn't a linear path, but one that has highs and lows. Oftentimes, the first step to growth has meant making a change or trying something new - and with a positive attitude, at that. There are inevitably growing pains and feedback along the way, but that is what helps us ultimately improve and get better. In reality, we never are done learning or finding ways to get better. If anything, it would be scary to think that we have reached our potential and are incapable of learning anymore or getting any better.
It is said that it is one grows (height wise) while one sleeps. In the same sense, a lot of growth and improvement in our lives can come when no one else is watching. On one hand, this can be frustrating, as it can make us feel as though no one sees our growth and wonder if it's all in vain. It can even cause us to second-guess ourselves and wonder if we actually are growing and getting better. But on the other hand, we can take heart in knowing that someone is always watching: God. God is ultimately our only audience, not anyone else. With that, we don't have to feel the need to "perform" and feel the need to show off and/or prove our growth to everyone. What matters is that God sees it and that we see it, not the rest of the world. After all, our growth and improvement should be for ourselves and for God, not the world.
While our growth ultimately is for God and ourselves, it is gratifying when that is recognized and noticed by others. That recognition reaffirms how we've felt or what we've seen. And though we shouldn't constantly be seeking validation or fishing for compliments, we can graciously receive others' recognition with grace and humility. Receiving recognition does have a way of encouraging us to keep going and work hard, as we now want to live up to that recognition bestowed upon us. For as gratifying it has been this year to receive recognition and encouragement from others, I know that what ultimately matters is what God thinks of me and that He is where I find my identity
Next week, I'll finish out the year with a "Life Lessons Learned from 2019" blog post, as I have in years past. To me, the overarching story of the year for me has been the ways God has been working in my life and drawn me nearer and closer to Him. A lot of that nearness came through the lows and pains from last year. While that has been tough to reconcile at times, I know in my heart that it was all worth it because of where it has brought me to today. If 2018 served as a chute for me, 2019 has served as a ladder. Although the ladders are admittedly more fun to experience than the chutes, we need them both to grow and improve. And I wouldn't want it any other way.
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