Thirty Thoughts on Thriving

Let’s continue the series on THRIVE. I mentioned earlier that 2014 is going to be the year to thrive. I also suggested that I am not an expert on thriving. I soon realized that nobody really is an expert, so I gathered thoughts from several dozen of my friends. I hope one of these captures your imagination.

My friend Joan Hall actually was inspired to write a full post on this concept. You can (and should) click through to read it here. Joan also gave me a short quote –

Thriving is more than merely surviving. Thriving is flourishing, growing, and sharing. To thrive is to become the person God designed you to be. – Joan Hall

Taking care of a garden reminds me to tend to my own precious soul and its needs. I must till its soil, feed and water it, and uproot any weeds, so that my spirit blossoms and thrives precisely as my garden does. Just as sunshine, water, and warmth are vital to gardens, so prayers and gratitude, art, literature, and poetry, music and quietude, principles and philosophy, all are food for nourishment. Sprinkled throughout a busy day, they refresh the thirsty inner self, giving the soul a chance to bloom and thrive. – Katina Vaselopoulos

Thriving is sending roots down deep in search of water so that we can survive the drought. We may not think we are thriving, because we struggle so much and because everything is such a fight, but we become stronger, tougher, hardier and more resilient every time we walk through a fire. We just keep sending those roots down deeper and deeper in search of water. As long as we are growing, we are thriving. – Kathleen Caron

We THRIVE when we are:

fully aware of our strengths and weaknesses,
fully ourselves without need for pretense,
fully engaged in the work we were created to do.– Josh Irby

Thrive always feels like it’s about overcoming conflict. It’s about moving through suffering and struggle and into the person you were called to be, turning weakness into strength. Not just coming through unscathed, but soaring through. – James Prescott 

Thriving means choosing joy each morning and living today. I could also choose depression and have done that in the past when I allowed my mind to focus on what I didn’t do, or what was done to me. I am not my past, and I am not my abuse. I am valuable and I choose to believe that God loves me and created me. – Pamela Hodges

We thrive when we come to the end of ourselves and plug into the all-powerful one. For it was Him who said, “Without me, you can do nothing.” Yet we spend our lives trying to prove Him wrong. – Anne Peterson

Thriving is to live unhindered by doubt. We all have doubts, but sometimes they can overwhelm us and we thrive when we build our self-confidence and self-esteem to a level that we are not held back by our doubts. – Bryan Hutchinson

Thrive means to be living into who you were designed to be. It means to continually work towards living the best you possibly can right now. It means building others up and helping encourage them to do the same. It means leading by example in whatever you are doing, and choosing to live instead of simply existing. – Tammy Helfrich

For me, thriving goes hand in hand with the focus and attitude of my heart. – Eileen Knowles

We thrive when we break free from the gravity of mediocrity and step out from the crowd so that we can live the life God has prepared us to live. Then we can truly love and serve God and the people he puts in our life in the strength that he provides. – Kevin Cunningham

Thriving means knowing I have a broken body, but I am not alone. Everyone is broken somehow and I can choose to look for the beauty of redemption. To thrive, I have to pray to see the little glimpses of Glory. – Laura Robb

Thrive means that when you have finished what you have to do, you still have bounce left for the fun stuff. I guess you can thrive when your “must do” list doesn’t drain you. – Erika Simone

To me thrive means not limping by but growing wherever you are. Understanding the trials of life have great potential for lessons and joy IF we are not afraid/avoid the journey through them. Thrive is to embrace living and look for things to be grateful for everyday – Christa Sterken

Thriving is when you know, deep in your heart that you are loved and accepted unconditionally by God so you don’t need to get your love, fulfillment, or self worth from the circumstances or people around you. – Susan Scott

Thriving is a lot like seeing a diamond sparkle in front of black velvet. You couldn’t see the fullness of the beauty without the darkness. – Stacy Claflin

We need love to thrive. We need to feel love and see love in each and every moment. Our love comes from inside of us–not from ANY external sources. So to me thriving is finding, feeling, giving, love in each moment. – Renee Baude

When I think of a thriving life, I picture a little child dancing in the rain without abandon or worry that their clothes will become wet or their hair mussed. – Stephanie Fishman

I’m willing to say my life truly THRIVES when I help make other’s lives thrive. When making other people’s dreams come true, I find more fulfillment. To me, THRIVING is having a FULL, FILLING life. – David Urzi

To thrive is to be fully alive – to be fruitful in season and out of season, in bright and dark times, to be content in the now while continuing to look expectantly to the not yet. I can only thrive if my roots are willing to go deep, finding redemption in the most broken-down parts of life. – Ronne Rocke

Not just doing the things that mentally healthy people do, but FLOURISHING. We see that the people who FLOURISH are active in community. – Angie Buchanan

I often talk about Thriving with people who I do cultural coaching with. I want them to thrive in the long term in their new culture. To me that means being able to live well, contentedly and understandingly where you are and with who you are, taking care of yourself so you can enjoy the life you live and those around you without always being in crisis mode and just struggling to get by. – Stacie Covell

It means to CHOSE to attack each day with God first so that HIS power and strength can build me up and sustain me and make it possible for me to THRIVE at anything that comes my way. – Sara Henry

Thriving is when we are doing more than just going through the motions. When you thrive you’re fully present in each moment; engaged in life.– Travis Hinkle

A small plant pushing through earth and rock to reach the sun, with brilliantly lush and green leaves, roots confident and strong. Breakthrough and persistence. – Ebonita Sonnetbird

I went through an interesting journey with my youngest daughter. She was diagnosed with Failure to Thrive because she was not on the expected growth curve for her age, but she hit milestones early and was engaged with the world around her. Our doctor told us that he was content as long as she created and maintained her own curve. I think sometimes when we try to determine whether *we* are *thriving* we compare ourselves to someone else’s life and conclude that we are not thriving. – Judith Heaney

In my failures I’m not becoming so down that I don’t want to try anymore and I just hate everything. In my successes I don’t feel like I’m done and I can go hide away in my bedroom. When I think of people who are thriving I believe they have a purpose and they have patience. – Jackie McGinnis

To be proactive and work intentionally toward cultivating that which is life-giving and consistent with our individual and familial “bent”. The “challenge” in this system is a harmonious one in that every effort expended serves to strengthen us and those around us (as opposed to exerting quite a bit of effort to please someone or serve a situation that will only drain the living daylights out of us). We are growing a tree using the natural design God put within us, nurturing it in an environment until it is fully grown and bears fruit. – Liz Clark

To thrive can be expressed by being fully aware of your surroundings, positive and negative. – Tony Lynch

For success and growth
reach the spirit deep within
see your efforts shine

–       Sylvia Jones

Thriving is being able to think clearly and act on those thoughts without interference of pain and fatigue. Thriving is being in sync with nature and present in the moment. It is not having to fight for everything. It is the ability to do the everyday things others take for granted. – Jeana Weiss