Have you ever wondered; what am I doing? And, what am I
doing it for? What is the purpose of all this? Am I accomplishing anything? Is
this what I started out to accomplish? Is this even what I want to accomplish? Is
this what I am supposed to be doing with my life? And, what am I doing again?
I am sure, like me, you’ve struggle with these ‘life’
questions. We all do!
I think it’s really healthy to ask these questions because
it gets us thinking, so what I am doing and do I need to make some course
corrections? Do I need to turn a corner? Or take another road to reach our
destination? Or do I need to pull over, and take a bathroom break, stretch and
get back after it?
For the last 19 years our family goes to Florida for our
vacation, and we always go the last week of June and the first week of July
because typically that is when everyone in our church (all churches) also goes
on vacation. Ha ha! It just works real well for us and the congregation we
serve. We always drive, because to fly a family of 4 plus all the stuff we take
would be pretty expensive, so to save money we road trip it, and really I
wouldn’t want it any other way. I love road tripping with my family. You really
get to know each other well, almost too well!
I could almost get to Florida with my eyes closed, though I
do keep them open most the time. We try to do a little route each year, to keep
it fun and interesting. We play road games, we play find every license plate
game, the alphabet game; we’ll even play card games to stay busy and enjoy the
trip. But one of the most important things we do to keep everyone sane is
taking regular bathroom breaks (pit stop, breathers) where we stretch, run
around, do some squat jumps, and other aerobic activities. I believe that just
like we take “bathroom breaks” or “pit stops” or “breathers” on a road trip we
should take them on our life trip!
Taking a breather from your responsibilities is what “Sharpens
the Saw” as Stephen Covey says. It helps us to do an even better job at whatever we do. You can chop down a tree much faster if you stop
ever-so-often to sharpen the saw, rather than just sawing away with a dull saw. I believe we do better in life when our saw is sharp, and time away can helps to sharpen us.
All that said time away, a vacation, or pit stop should be
with purposeful. We should not only take that time to relax, unwind, detox, unplug,
play, but also to rebuild, to replenish, to energize to refuel, to refill, to strengthen.
Sharpen the saw. Often it’s in those times we get the answers we seek.
I encourage you to take some time, even if it's one day to get away, to unplug and dig into your soul ... you'll come back sharper!
