Inside you there’s a battle between your flourishing self – the person you were created to be – and your languishing self. ‘What’s that?’ you ask. Your languishing self feels uneasy and discontent. You’re drawn to bad habits like mindlessly watching TV, drinking too much, misusing sex, excessive spending – things designed to temporarily anaesthetise pain. Your thoughts automatically drift in the direction of fear and anger. Learning doesn’t feel worthwhile. You think about yourself most of the time. Whereas flourishing [thriving, blossoming, and prospering] takes place: 1) In your spirit. You sense you’re beginning to receive ideas and energy from an outside source. And you are. You’re being empowered by God’s Spirit. We talk about being inspired, which literally means ‘God breathed’. God breathes into you; you come alive and feel like you’ve a purpose for living. 2) In your mind. Your thoughts are marked by joy and peace. You have a desire to love and to learn. You’re literally being transformed by ‘the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2 NIV). 3) In your time. You wake each day with a sense of excitement, and you realise you’re never too young to flourish. Mozart was composing brilliant music when he was five. Paul told Timothy, ‘Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young’ (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV). You also realise you’re never too old to flourish. Grandma Moses was sixty-nine when she took up painting, and artist Marc Chagall did some of his best work in his nineties. It’s humbling to acknowledge you can’t be anything you want. But once you accept that and seek to maximise what God created you to be, you start flourishing.
