Once again I find myself wondering what to do, especially
given the place I seem to be working into in leadership. As I ponder the last
several weeks and the personal interactions I have had with several key people,
I am left to believe I am where I’m supposed to be, but like Moses I am
doubting my abilities. It would seem there are several men who are seeking me
out for the sake of some sort of relationship. This is all something I prayed
for in earnest several months ago and now that it is happening, I am troubled
with finding time for anyone.
I suppose that I did not wander into this current state of
mind with the intention of being too busy to pour into the lives of those
around me, but none the less I am now shaking my head, proverbially of course,
at how this life will leave you breathless if you let it. This position of
leadership can be wrought with difficult moments and maintaining a strict
schedule seems to be one of the more key components. Aside from scheduling,
there is also personality management. Another way to say that is babysitting.
Truthfully, it’s less of that, I suppose, and more of having to cater to
multiple egos…all at the same time.
As I wade through the personality differences of those
around me I have come to the conclusion that having an open ended schedule and
broad shoulders are a big deal. In light of the fact that my schedule is nuts
and from time to time my shoulders sag, I am also learning that patience, perseverance
and persistence are attributes I cannot live without. It also helps to be
realistic while at the same time being optimistic. This is tough to do when a
lot of times you find yourself wanting to be pessimistic. Unfortunately, it is
easy to be a pessimist in light of the schedule I often times try to keep. The
trick is to minimize any downtime and keep my mind active, lest it wander.
For a while, I was staying up really late and then trying to
get up at a decent hour, like six. My justification was my show of productivity
at night after the kids went to bed. I would read, write, listen to music and
read. For some time that worked well, but in the last couple of months my
efficiencies have soured and I’m finding that my evenings are not nearly as
productive as they used to be. Enter in a couple of early morning opportunities
and suddenly I find myself refreshed with new ideas and a new outlook. Granted,
getting up at four is not for everyone, but at this moment it is working for
me. A subtle retraining of my bed time and I am loving the early morning meet
ups with a couple of different guys.
Two days a week are not going to alter my entire perspective
but it is certainly a welcome change. The most immediate shift in my thinking
has been in the desire to start a men’s group, specifically one for guys that I
know who appear to be singular in their day to day lives. What I mean by that
is there are some men who seem to operate solo a lot and it is those men who I
would love to seek out and create a level of support for. This is how God works
too, in putting on my heart a core group of men who for whatever reason just
need some other guys around them for support and accountability. I could easily
claim I am too busy to tackle another endeavor but from my view, there are
already too many people saying those exact words.
Pouring into someone has a weird sound to it and most people
simply do not want to know what all is involved. Not because they couldn’t
handle it but because they simply do not want to take the time necessary for
such a thing to work. The days we live in are busy and everyone seems to not
only get that but some even seem to celebrate it as if it were a badge of
honor. Busyness is not, however, all that honorable and if we are not careful
it will take away from the things that are actually the most important in our
lives; namely the relationships we should be pouring into.
If you were to know how many days you had left to live,
would you change anything? Probably, you would not only say yes but your
behavior would shift immediately. For some, it might be an opportunity to check
things off of a list of to-do’s prior to leaving this place. For others, there
would be an imminent need to work on the relationships in their lives. The
truth is we do indeed only have so many days left and those relationships need
your attention right now, even the ones that you haven’t even created yet.
Pouring into the life of someone near you is critical thinking; that is, it is
not something to put off until tomorrow.
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