Always Learning Something New

I love hanging out with my grand kids because I learn something new about them every time I hang out with them.

For instance, traveling down the road with them on a recent excursion, my eleven year old granddaughter told me all about how much fun she is having learning how to play the flute in band class. 

She elaborated about the songs she knows how to play and which notes she has to play for each of those songs. Every week, her band teacher holds a little competition with her students. They have to see how long they can hold a note on their flute, clarinet, trumpet or trombone. 

My granddaughter tells me that she can’t hold a note for very long on her flute because there is a boy in her class, who when he looks at her, makes her smile. And you can’t smile and play a note on the flute.

Then my granddaughter said, “But I doubt I’ll ever get very good at playing the flute.” Her older brother responded to her statement by saying, “Where’s your growth mindset?” 

What a great response for him to have. Someone has evidently influenced his thinking with regards to what it means to have a growth mindset.

In short, a growth mindset simply means we believe that our brains are malleable and not fixed. A growth mindset is having the attitude of being ready and willing to learn something new or to learn more about something we already know a little bit about. 

Those with a growth mindset believe that they are capable of learning even if what they’ve set out to learn proves to be more challenging than they first thought. 

But, those with a growth mindset, understand that the challenges they come up against are actually real opportunities to give a bit more effort and/or persist a little longer. A growth mindset does not require us to possess a natural ability, it only requires that we possess an ability to try.  

Growth in Grace

As a believer and follower of Jesus, having a growth mindset is essential to our faith. There is an actual verse in the book of 2 Peter that says, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of God.

Being a believer with a growth mindset means I am ready, willing and able to learn more about the One who supplies me with an unlimited and endless flow of love. Getting to know God takes a lifetime, but that is okay. God has all the time in the world for us to get to know him. Not only that, but as we get to know God, then we become more acquainted and familiar with the benefits of knowing him. We learn and incorporate the love, joy, peace, patience and kindness he has toward us. Relying on him, we grow in wisdom. 

Why Bother?

Why bother with a growth mindset? Regardless if we are learning to play the flute or learning to be kind, knowing that we are able, makes all the difference in our world.