Keep the balance
Refreshment time
The past five weeks have been very hectic for me with lots of travel. As a result I didn’t manage to post any new articles in the past two weeks. The past week was the first time I spent the full week at home in a long time and I made use of the time to refresh and make up with the family that was now getting used to seeing me away from home. I also had opportunities to speak almost every week. I spoke to various audiences ranging from high school students preparing for examinations to university students on weekend outing out there in Zim and from primary school teachers needing inspiration; to old ladies trying a cooperative project and at church congregations. Its been action packed. Some of the articles I wrote in the past weeks, I wrote them while on the go. I do not normally stress up but the hectic schedule was beginning to take a toll on me. I was beginning to feel the physical fatigue and emotional exhaustion catching up with me. I understood clearly the feeling of fatigue that Elijah had as he sat under the Juniper tree (1 Kings 19 v 4 – 5) after his great conquest; or the feeling of thirst that Samson had after killing a thousand Philistines when ‘he called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?’ (Judges 15 v 18). I realized I needed some refreshment. I created lots of time to rest and to play around with the kids; I found time to listen to uplifting messages and I set aside time to read; and to be in the presence of the Lord.
Prevent the burn-out
Sometimes in life we get so pre-occupied with fulfilling our appointments and obligations at the expense of things that matter. We find ourselves spending so much of ourselves and forget that if you give or spend more than you are receiving you will eventually find yourself in the red! Don’t keep an overdrawn emotional bank account; don’t push your body too hard and forget to give back to it; and don’t keep a starved spirit! Prevent a burnout; plough back into where you have withdrawn! Whatever you are doing don’t be too busy cutting with the axe so much that you don’t spare a moment to stop and sharpen the axe; and don’t be too busy driving so much that you don’t have time to stop and re-fuel. Your body, soul and spirit require refreshment. ‘The times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord’ (Acts 3 v 19). You might have tight work schedules, appointments or obligation or you might be pushing a second and a third job; whatever occupies you will wear you out unless you stop and refresh. You will never have time unless you create time! It has to be a conscious and deliberate decision to create space to stop and refuel yourself.
Maintain the balance
This is a fast generation and sometimes tight and hectic schedules are inevitable. We constantly find ourselves with conflicting demands in our lives. You want to fulfill business or career demands and at the same time you want to have quality time with our family. The easiest way out is to satisfy all the other demands at the expense of your loved ones. After all you expect them to understand. They know how tight your schedule is! You are doing it all for them. At the end of the year you will be done with your project and you will have more time with them; soon the kids will be grown and out of the way and you will make more time for your spouse and by then you will also have managed to build your financial security. The excuses are valid but worthless. Do you how much more time you still have in your kitty? Who told you that you will be there to make up? While you have them enjoy them! Time spent with business associates at the golf club or at an exclusive dinner seems like time better spent than time spent with the kids at the park, or time spent shopping with your spouse! Never underestimate the value of your loved ones. You can never put any price tag on the relationship! It’s priceless!! Many times we only realize the value of something when we have lost it. Keep the balance and learn the trick of keeping all the balls in the air.
A little ponder
Maintain the balance; take time to refuel; and be sure to spare quality moments for the loved ones. It will be painful when one day they will stand up to say ‘you were never there!’ or when they say ‘they wished they had had enough time to have known you better’ or worse still for you to regret and say ‘I wish I was more available’. It’s not too late to start now!
Peter Mbada
Thanks for partnering with me in inspiring the world by purchasing a copy of ‘Destined to Succeed; Unstoppable and Unlimitable’; and by sharing this message!
No comments:
Post a Comment