Buckets and buckets
I have unearthed a disturbing trend in my clients. And it probably has its roots in our Evangelical background, where the super devoted never tire and never quit and never are frivolous. The trend is that it seems we are still trying to burn ourselves out for Jesus or the kingdom or whatever.
This trend is one of the most deadly pieces of awfulness that I have to carefully work against in almost every single one of them. Deconstructing this whole conceptual idea that you can sleep when you are dead, that God loves best those who work the hardest and sacrifice the most, that there is merit in weary exhaustion that leaves you weak and defenseless in too many ways, that crushes energy and excitement and creativity.
Here is what I mean in very technical speech ... the “very tool we need to prosper in today’s environment: our cognition. So, when we require mental acuity, we experience diminished recall. When we need sharp thinking and problem-solving, our minds are full.” From "The 24 hour rule" by Charles Fred.
Even in myself, I am still discovering that I need buckets and buckets of self care to find optimal balance of input and outputs. In the past I laughed at this idea. But I can remember so vividly the day in 1993 when I read a quote from Bill Hybels who was the pastor of the largest church in the USA at that time, that he needed to spend 50% of his time in developing (PTA essentially) himself, in order to pastor that huge mega-church, when I was working 80 hours a week and barely getting everything accomplished for a small growing church of 125 people.
Eventually I got what Hybels was preaching, and now I preach it myself. We need far more and better buckets of caring for our own souls, bodies and minds than we ever thought was necessary. I only wish that I could package up all the energy and power that I got from 9 hours of sleep last night for today's opportunities, and show it to my clients. Buckets and buckets of care people. Stop cheating yourself or cheating all the people in the world that your life affects.
I have unearthed a disturbing trend in my clients. And it probably has its roots in our Evangelical background, where the super devoted never tire and never quit and never are frivolous. The trend is that it seems we are still trying to burn ourselves out for Jesus or the kingdom or whatever.
This trend is one of the most deadly pieces of awfulness that I have to carefully work against in almost every single one of them. Deconstructing this whole conceptual idea that you can sleep when you are dead, that God loves best those who work the hardest and sacrifice the most, that there is merit in weary exhaustion that leaves you weak and defenseless in too many ways, that crushes energy and excitement and creativity.
Here is what I mean in very technical speech ... the “very tool we need to prosper in today’s environment: our cognition. So, when we require mental acuity, we experience diminished recall. When we need sharp thinking and problem-solving, our minds are full.” From "The 24 hour rule" by Charles Fred.
Even in myself, I am still discovering that I need buckets and buckets of self care to find optimal balance of input and outputs. In the past I laughed at this idea. But I can remember so vividly the day in 1993 when I read a quote from Bill Hybels who was the pastor of the largest church in the USA at that time, that he needed to spend 50% of his time in developing (PTA essentially) himself, in order to pastor that huge mega-church, when I was working 80 hours a week and barely getting everything accomplished for a small growing church of 125 people.
Eventually I got what Hybels was preaching, and now I preach it myself. We need far more and better buckets of caring for our own souls, bodies and minds than we ever thought was necessary. I only wish that I could package up all the energy and power that I got from 9 hours of sleep last night for today's opportunities, and show it to my clients. Buckets and buckets of care people. Stop cheating yourself or cheating all the people in the world that your life affects.
