Living Aggressively

Living aggressively changes the whole complexion of life. William H. Danforth

When Cherise was a sophomore, she was the least experienced player on the #1 ranked team in Texas 1-A Basketball. She was about 5'2" when she stood on her tip toes and couldn't see over an oponent's head unless they were lying on the floor. Cherise's first few weeks were, to say the least, challenging. Whenever she would get the ball, the girl guarding her would block her view of the court. Then the girl would take away the ball, the coach would scream and Cherise would have a seat on the bench. Life and basketball became most difficult.

Then came the day when Cherise simply had enough of all of the other girls on all of the other teams taking the ball away from her and making her coach scream and having Cherise take a seat on the bench. So she stopped trying to pass over the taller girls and started to dribble around them - and a light bulb came on for Cherise. You see, while Cherise was shorter than 95% of the other girls, she was quicker than just about 100% of them. So when she started dribbling she just naturally left her girl behind. Then the girls started trying to stop her by jumping out in front of her so 5'2" Cherise started running over them. And life and basketball became quite fun for Cherise.

That's the way life is: When you are passive and just wait for good things to happen, somebody taller is usually there to take your ball away from you. But, when that great day comes when you simply have had enough and you become aggressive - life will change.

Now if you are thinking that this article is about running over people who get in your way, you are missing the point. The point is that great things in life do not happen when we are idly standing by. Great things happen when we decide to make them happen. It is when we get tired of treading water (or sinking because we are too lazy to even tread) that we learn how to swim and it is when we get tired of mediocrity that we begin to dare to do great things.

So if you have found yourself just standing around while others seem to be the ones picking up the ball and running with it - then do something about it! If you want to be a better athlete or student or executive or husband or anything else that is worthwhile, the only thing that will stop you from doing so is your own lack of effort. And... on a far greater scale, the only way we will ever become the type of servants who will actually be a benefit to our Lord and Savior, will be when we finally tire of our passive and timid existence and begin to aggressively pursue a more meaningful service to God.

The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:1, NIV