Is your life worth anything?

Andy Stanley tells the story of his niece, Elena I think her name was. When she was five her mother looked for an activity that her daughter could channel her energy into.

The girl had a long body that seemed to be made for swimming. So her mother enrolled her in a swim club. For four years they went to swim meets.

The little one loved meeting other kids and she seemed to like to swim. But when it came time to race, she always finished last.

Finally at the beginning of a new year with the club, mama was driving Elena to a competition.

“Elena, you should try to win the race today,” she urged her daughter.

“Race?” her nine-year old daughter asked, surprised. “You mean it’s a race! I thought we went to ‘meet’ people.”

All these years the girl had gone to swim “meetings” with the idea that the goal was to “meet” people. That day she realized that it was a competition. Her outlook changed and she won the race. And she won at the next meeting and the next.

As a matter of fact, she was the only one in her swim club who progressed to the next level.

Her world changed when her way of seeing changed. Continue reading →