Growing - Anna Meurer

If you asked the majority of people what they think growing means, they would most likely say getting bigger or growing older. While both of these uses of the word are right, the word growing can be used in many different ways. Your personal perspective depends on how you view the word growing. You’re perspective is not wrong, it is just different than others. Growing is the most important thing in your life because you have the ability to grow as much and as little as you want.
The most common use of the word growing would be physically growing. Physically growing comes simply with getting older. You grow in height and weight as you get older. As you physically grow, you grow out of clothing and shoes. This type of growing could come with some financial struggles. In some cases, physically growing can cause money issues. For example, let’s say your child is just continuing to grow and grow and you can’t keep up with the things that they need. This would be an example of how money issues could come along with growing. There are also benefits to physically growing. An example of this would be growing from a child to a young adult. This situation of growing can bring many opportunities. Such as being able to drive, being able to get your first job, and being more respected than you were as a child. The last positive aspect that there is growing is being good at something because of your size. Whether that is being short or tall. A benefit of being tall could be having the opportunity to be good sports. In sports taller people tend to be better than shorter or smaller people. There are also other things that shorter people are better at doing than tall people. These are just a few examples of how physically growing can impact your life. 
The next type of growing is mentally growing. I would say that this is the most important type of growing. Mentally growing means to me that you are constantly trying to be the best you can be at something even if you don’t want to do it, or even if you are not good at it. I personally struggle with this one. For example, I play basketball and I like to play, but I do not like everything about the sport. Twice a week we run a mile, I often times find myself absolutely dreading these few minutes that I will be running. Simply because I am not a runner, and it is difficult for me to do so. While I’m running I always think to myself that it will be over in a few minutes, and that the faster I run, the quicker I get to take a break. Even though I am constantly telling myself these things it is often times hard to push myself to finish with a good time. But over time I have found that it is easier for me, just because I have gotten mentally tougher than I was before. Another example of mentally growing could be being able to come out of difficult situations with a positive attitude. An example of this could be a single mother getting laid off of her job. This situation would not be easy for anyone, much less a single mother, not knowing how they are going to pay for things now. Put yourself in this situation, it would probably be hard to have a positive attitude through this hardship, but it you do the situation would become less stressful, and probably work out for you. The last example of mentally growing is having the mindset to push through something hard. Studies have shown that people that are mentally tough often times come out on top in life, because when adversity came their way they didn’t shove it to the side, they faced it, and overcame it. 
The last way of growing is spiritually growing. Spiritually growing is one of the most important things in life to me. A way of spiritually growing is praying, reading the bible, and going to church. I know that religion is a touchy subject to many people, but if you do go to church and believe in God, then it is important to stay in the word and pray. You can notice when people are going to church, reading their bible, and things like that. They just have this natural happy glow about them, it’s like they have no problems. Speaking from a teenagers perspective on spiritually growing, you can oftentimes find yourself growing out of relationships. This doesn’t even have to be spiritually, it could be mentally as well. The friend that you could have had for years could start doing things that you don’t want anything to do with. There’s nothing wrong with distancing yourself from people that have a different mindset than you. The last thing that comes along with spiritually growing could be being able to stand up for what you believe in. It takes a lot of courage in today’s world to say that you believe in God. Just because of all the problems going on in society. Spiritually growing is difficult but if you are mentally tough it is not impossible. 
Growing in life can oftentimes be uncomfortable, just because as people, we don’t find it easy to get out of our comfort zones.  I encourage everyone to try and grow in some areas in their life. It won’t be easy to do, but it will be one of the best things that you will ever do. You won’t regret your decision by pushing yourself and growing in areas of your life. The most important thing to do in life is grow, so don’t be afraid, just get out of your comfort zone and do it.