What are your early memories of school? Most of mine are of annual reports saying I needed to try harder or was pretty average at most things. But at age eleven, all that changed, forever. In the last week of term, for the first time ever, I came first at something. I won the first race of my life – the 800 yard, walking race. Do you know the difference between walking and running? Walking becomes running when both feet are off the ground at the same. In a walking race, one foot has to be on the ground at any time. And although it may be hard to imagine it now, at age 11, I had the natural skinny hip movement necessary to walk with speed.

For the next few days before term ended I bathed in the glory of being a winner. At last I was the best in my year at something and it had been recognised. And I kept the certificate to prove it. I still remember the surge of adrenaline that lasted days. The desire for recognition and affirmation are deep, deep needs. The need is universal. Everyone longs to be recognized for something. Recognition is good for our emotional health.

As young children we say instinctively, “Watch me, Daddy, watch me!” We need to be recognized. We need to be affirmed from an early age. That doesn’t change when we grow up. We just get more subtle in fishing for recognition. We do it with our cars, with our clothing and our homes. All the time we’re saying, “Watch me, accept me, affirm me, appreciate me.” That’s because we have a deep need to be valued and recognised. A healthy self esteem develops, however, when we find an equilibrium between our own emotional needs and those of others. We will however, ultimately only find peace with ourselves when we find our security in a right relationship with God. Because ultimately what he thinks about us is more important than what other people think. If we rely solely on others for our emotional stability, we will never be secure or truly fulfilled. Instead we will remain immature and self centred. When we are secure in our relationship with our God, we can grow up healthily into the unique people He intends us to become. We can then excel. We can thrive. Our short Old Testament reading have probably sold more books per verse than any other in history.

How can I live above average? from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

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Ten questions to get you started this morning[1]. Give yourself a:

1 for none of the time;
2 for a little of the time,
3 for some of the time;
4 for most of the time;
5 for all of the time.

In the last 4 weeks,

1. How often did you feel tired out for no good reason?
2. How often did you feel nervous?
3. How often did you feel so nervous that nothing could calm you down?
4. How often did you feel hopeless?
5. How often did you feel restless or fidgety?
6. How often did you feel so restless you could not sit still?
7. How often did you feel depressed?
8. How often did you feel that everything was an effort?
9. How often did you feel so sad that nothing could cheer you up?
10. How often did you feel worthless?

Score 2 or above for each question and you have a medium risk of depression. Score 3 or above and you have a high risk. Depression has been called the common cold of emotional illnesses. Everyone gets depressed at times, but some people are depressed nearly all the time. For most it is mild, for some it becomes clinical. This morning I want us to consider some of the spiritual causes for depression and discover from the Scriptures how to overcome it. This is not, however, a substitute for seeking medical. If you scored high on those questions, make an appointment to see your GP this week.  Even godly people get depressed sometimes.

How to Win over Depression from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

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I wonder what you consider to have been the biggest business failure of all time? Blockbuster? HMV? Jessops? Those are just from this month. Last year there was SeaFrance, JJB Sport and Comet. In 2011 there was Borders Books, Habitat and Oddbins. In 2010 there was Pontins. In 2009 there was Allied Carpets and Readers Digest. In 2008 there was Circuit City, MFI, Woolworths and Silverjet. In 2005 there was MG Rover. In 2002 there was Swissair. In 2001 there was Enron, Homebase and Poloroid. In 1995 there was Barings Bank and Bugatti. In 1991 there was the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Pan Am and Polly Peck. But the biggest failure? Or perhaps rather the company with the greatest number of failures?

How about Dyson? If Hoover became synonymous with the vacuum cleaner, Dyson has become synonymous with… the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, the bladeless fans, the uniball wheelbarrow, the quickest, most efficient hand driers in the world and… probably the greatest number of failures in the world as well. Check their website out and they admit they are failures – indeed they are proud of it:

“Most people think testing is all about durability and reliability. Of course that’s a big part of it. But before that happens – before you even have something to beat the hell out of – you need an idea that works. Dyson engineers get those ideas often by trying the ridiculous. Most of the time it ends in failure. That’s good. Failure sparks thinking and the extraordinary.”

How Can I Overcome Failure? from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

There’s a misconception that invention is about having a great idea, tinkering with it in the garden shed for a few days, then appearing with the finished design. Know how many times James Dyson ‘failed’ before he cracked the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner.  Dyson — supported by his wife’s job as an art teacher — took five years and 5127 failed prototype to develop one that worked.  If failure sucks but instructs, that is a lot of learning.  Certainly, say 4000 prototypes and 4 years into the adventure, any reasonable person would have assumed that this was a failure, an extreme case of escalating commitment to a failed course of action. But not Dyson. I am a raving fan of Dyson products. They work and when one goes wrong they like to know about it so they can improve them.

You could say the same about Apple and a small number of other leading edge companies that consistently hit the market with tried and tested products that gain an instant cult following and build a lasting market share. But they all begin with failures and like Dyson, often thousands of failures. So what is the difference? When failure stares them in the face for the 5126^th time, they never give up. So do we overcome failure?  Why do marriages fail? Why do families fall apart? Why do businesses fail? Why do teams disintegrate? Because people give up.

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If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My problem is choosing just one thing… At least by next Sunday I should be wearing different glasses. I had an eye test on Friday and need a new prescription. But I felt like changing my image too. So I hope you like the new frames. It’s the new me. Some things we long to change. Others we don’t want to change. This Summer I turn 60. Apparently my children want to celebrate. I don’t particularly. This hit home a few months ago. I was on a London tube train during the rush hour, carrying a rucksack. An Asian gentleman got up and offered me his seat. I didn’t know what he meant to begin with. Then it dawned on me. That was the first time anyone has ever offered me their seat. I felt acutely self-conscious. Ageing is an irreversible change. We can deny it, resist it, botox it, liposuction it, hide it, disguise it, colour it, ignore it or, we can accept it.

Rick Warren says, “A life that is never willing to change is a great tragedy – a wasted life.” That’s because God actually wants us to change. Because change is a necessary.

Change is an inevitable part of a growing spiritual life. We need to change continuously to become like Jesus.

How Can I Ever Change? from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

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How to Enjoy a Stress Free Christmas from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

The Good news is, the world did not end on Friday. According to the BBC “Scientists have done their best over the past week to reassure us that the end is far from nigh, but on Friday survivalists and doomsday cultists prepared to take their final stands in forests and on mountain tops around the world.

The latest outpouring of apocalyptic angst mixed with fatalism has been fuelled by the belief that the 5,125-year-old Mayan Long Count calendar predicted that 21 December 2012 would be the earth’s last. In truly British stiff upper lip style, Druids said they expected larger crowds than normal at the annual winter solstice event at Stonehenge.

NASA scientists have said for years that there was no need for alarm. Because of Hollywood films like 2012, NASA has been inundated with calls as the doomsday rumour took grip and the final day approached. To reassure the fearful, NASA produced a four-minute video entitled ‘Why The World Didn’t End Yesterday’ and published it online ahead of time. By Friday it had already been viewed more than five million times.

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