Daily Inspiration 11-13-12

"No one improves by accident. Personal growth doesn't just happen on its own. And once you're done with formal education, you must take complete ownership of the growth process, because nobody else will do it for you." -- John C Maxwell       No one improves by accident and personal growth doesn't just happen on its own. How true. I've studied quite a number of famous and not so famous successful people and in every case they have taken 100% control of their learning and personal growth. When I was a child and read and heard about Abraham Lincoln and how he sought out and devoured every book he could get his hands on in a time when finding books was a serious challenge. He would be so astonished at the availability of learning materials today that are available to most people on the planet. In grade school I was so excited about learning, and then in junior high and high school, I was much more interested in fitting in, or trying to. My real education didn't take off until it was no longer required. I was out of school, out of the Air Force and at age 22 ready to make my way in the business world. My learning skyrocketed then, and has never stopped. Though I did not graduate from college, in my Linked-in profile, I state this as my education: Masters, Philosophy, Sales Management, at University of Self-Education Studies. I am proud to go to that University where the students never graduate. Instead, they are lifelong students. I have grown on purpose because I want to know, and I want to understand so much. I want that for me. For you, it might be something else entirely. It's all good. We each have our own way to dealing with the idea of learning and personal growth. I grew up around people who gave up learning and growing and instead focused on drama. I could not wait to escape the gravitational pull of that and get myself into a different space. Timing may be an issue too. There were many dry spots in my own personal growth where I found myself feeling the friction of the atmosphere surrounding me, but I awakened from that pattern a grateful man, reminded once again, that I am in charge of my own growth by my own choice and desire.

'No Wind Favors Him Who Has No Destined Port." -- Michel de Montaigne    Spread Some Joy Today--Wherever you are and whatever you do, the only thing that really matters is that you are enjoying yourself. Learning, loving, sharing, working, growing. The joy that you get when you are excited about life and living is the most powerful attractive quality you could possess.