Take, for instance, the example of a pendulum. It has a very simple application, yet one that bears a significant explanation.
It starts off at one point. At that point it has the highest potential energy. Release the pendulum. It gains momentum, slowly at first, until all of that potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, at which point it commits all that energy to the climb back up. On its way up the other side, it loses momentum, converting it back to potential energy. Therefore, its accent slows, until it reaches a point where all of its kinetic is back to potential, at which point it slows to a complete stop. Then the process repeats itself until it reaches the point from which it started. The pendulum will never go higher or lower than the point from which it started without an external force acting on it. If you try this, gravity is affecting the swing, which explains why its swing gets smaller and smaller every swing.
The process of growth and self discovery is much like a pendulum’s path. We start off on a lower point with unrealized potential. Then, something within us lets us go down the path. At this point, the potential bottled up inside of us causes us to amass some knowledge and information to use, adding potential to what we can achieve. At the lowest point of our curve, we have amassed as much information as we can handle at that point. This is the part of the process called “learning.” The mistake most people make is they stop there. They don’t apply what they learned. They come to a dead stop at the bottom of the swing.
When we have converted all our potential into kinetic, we must apply what we’ve learned. This point is called “growth.” That kinetic energy must be used to climb higher into our awareness of who we are if we are to live the way God would have us to live.
Once all the kinetic energy is used, we are allowed to stop. This point is called “reflection.” It is at this point where we are called to stop, reflect, and process the growth we have achieved. But get this: unlike a normal pendulum, which will never go above its original height without an outside force, you will end up in a higher position than when you started. Knowledge, and application of that knowledge, is that external force that propels you a little bit higher each time you go through this process.
This is a never-ending process if you are fully engaged in it. For different people in different times of their lives, the swing cycle may be different lengths. For myself, my past full “swing” lasted about a year. One year ago – as of the writing of this post – I was on the other side of the swing. Now, I’m feeling myself starting another cycle of growth. I’m on the other side from where I started, and I have amassed so much knowledge, tools, and strategies, and have unloaded so much of the excess garbage I was carrying, that I am 100% confident that I will swing above where I was before. I wish the same for you and your future.
Super Success 