Time for an Upgrade

I can't count the number of times I have received some type of popup or notice or banner on my laptop or smartphone announcing I was due for an upgrade. It may be my operating system, an application or perhaps even the equipment itself. Whichever it is, something happened that triggered the alert.

Ordinarily, this is a pretty simple process. More often than not, it's simply a matter of clicking a button or two, rebooting the device and, voilà, it's operating (most of the time) like new. Pretty easy!

Sometimes in life, we also have those times when an upgrade is required. I say, "required", only if we are wanting to grow or improve our circumstances. I know I may be guilty of going out on a limb here. But I'll assume if you're reading this, you, too, probably would like to improve things in your life.

An upgrade in life might be to finish high school, go to college, finish college, learn a trade or skill, get a new job, start your own business, get married, learn a new craft or hobby, mentor a child or teenager, buy a home, sell a home, move or relocate. I could go on and on. But you get the idea...there's a world of things to do that may be calling out to you to get your new upgrade.

Essentially, getting your upgrade is a part of growth or growing up. It's something we all need to do.

Recently over the Christmas break, I visited with some family members. We had a great time getting caught up, exchanging gifts and eating a lot of food. For the most part, it was an awesome experience. But there was an observation I made particularly of one of my family members. In spite of being one of the older members of our family, he still made a lot of questionable comments and told some off-color jokes that, frankly, that someone many years younger than he would have already stopped. Time for an upgrade!

Maybe you've been alerted recently of a needed upgrade in your life. If so, don't let too much time pass before doing something about it. Just like waiting too long to upgrade a computer or smartphone can cause the device to not operate as efficiently as possible, so, too, can you experience a similar ineffectiveness.

Call a mentor or close friend to meet them for a coffee or bite to eat and share with them what you feel you would like to do. Ask them to pray with you and give you counsel on your plans. You may be surprised at how your life will change when you take this first step.

It's the beginning of a new year and the timing may be right for your upgrade. So get started today!