Developing Horizons Magazine (2).pdf Spring 2015 | Page 3

From the President’s Desk:

Growth and Development
Someone once said, “If you are not growing, you’re dying.” Another well known saying is “You begin
the process of dying the moment you are born.” There is some truism in both statements; however,
between the beginnings of life and death, there is growth -- physical, materialistic, and spiritual. The
next question is how do we measure these attributes?
The physical growth is the easiest to measure. We appreciate growth until it becomes too much,
at which time we begin to monitor it through diet and exercise. We have become a nation obsessed
with our weight. We equate our appearance to the ability to succeed in life. While it does play a role
in our lives, we tend to overemphasize it.
Our materialistic growth is the one that more often than not becomes a life controlling issue. We
tend to judge our successes by the number and quality of our toys (stuff). In the case of most of us,
if we were to concentrate on these possessions, we would restrict our ability to participate in more
important aspects of our lives, including peace of mind, charity to others and self discipline.
Our spiritual growth is the most important aspect of our lives; unfortunately, however, most of us
don’t realize it until we’re older. It is then we begin to realize that a lot of the values we had early in
life are now obsolete.
A good example of changing values is the relationship we have with our grandchildren. When
our children were their ages, we were engrossed in working, mortgages, schools and possible retirement. We were also responsible for our children’s welfare and happiness. As grandparents, we have
succeeded in most of it. We have no mandated (by society) responsibility except to spoil them.
Hopefully your spiritual growth is governed by a strong sense of ethics and morality based on
Christian principles instilled at an early age in family and continued through church teachings and
personal study of God’s Word.
If you can show growth in these areas, the first two in moderation and the last with an all-consuming appetite, you will realize you are no more or less than you think you are.

Joe Hale
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”
-Harvey S. Firestone

33