Made to Thrive

Wednesday morning, as I headed to the zoo a little after 5, the weather was rainy and I was feeling foggy. I was awake as I drove (obviously) but it was one of those mornings when my brain was only functioning as much as it needed to, I was fairly unconscious to the world around me. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited for another great day at work but the early mornings were starting to catch up with me a bit.

I had the radio on but wasn’t paying much attention until I heard a familiar tune, Thrive by Casting Crowns. I turned the volume up, probably louder than I should have, and was quickly alive, awake, and enthusiastic.

The last lines of the chorus of this song are, “It's time for us to more than just survive,

we were made to thrive” and I think they are an amazing reminder in the lives we live today. How often do we just survive? How often do we say things like, “If I can just get through this week.” or “I just have to survive until summer.”? I think one I’ve said a lot is, “I just need to make it through this class.” But what is life if we’re just surviving it? 

I’ve heard a quote before, something about the life in your years being more important than the years in your life. And while I think it’s great, I think maybe we take it out of context sometimes. I think a lot of people hear that and think that they need to go on great adventures, go skydiving and mountain climbing, and make awesome memories. But what if it just means that by taking advantage of every second, truly being present in our lives, we can get more out of each day? I mean seriously, if we’re just living for the weekend, that’s only 2/7 days a week that we’re living, we’re missing out on so much!

So I challenge you to this; thrive. Start paying attention to the people around you. Start noticing the sunrise, singing along to the radio, and finding joy in the little blessings in life. Not every moment of our lives will be fun or exciting or easy, but it is still a moment worth living, a moment we’ll never get back.

We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives.

It's time for us to more than just survive, we were made to thrive.