I am really overwhelmed at this point. I run effectively two businesses now, teach two classes, am on this years class of Leadership Cleveland, am part of a small group men’s bible study, am part of the advisory group of Christian Business Owners Fellowship, and mentor couples about to be married with my wife. It just seems like I don’t have time to breathe. Wah, Wah!
A few weeks back a friend from the small group men’s study asked for help in his new home. Usual guy stuff – move furniture around, paint walls, etc. To compound things, this guy lives a good half-hour away. I couldn’t just drop by. I said no, I just couldn’t. He fortunately got help from our group as other guys stepped up. He then asked for help again several weeks later and I said no I couldn’t then either. Again, other guys stepped up. Finally, we were doing a group project at a local ministry and again I said I couldn’t.
You know if we have so little margin for other people we are probably overcommitted and I probably am. I am going to have to make some changes to give margin. The other thing is that I need to view service from a different perspective. Of all things Harvard Business Review had the following podcast which I have uploaded to Soundcloud and is embedded below. The premise if you can’t listen to it is that studies have shown that if you help people, by some miracle you have more time or seemingly more time. How could that be?
Don’t each of us have 24 hours in a day? I don’t get any more because I am special. Yet, if we give away some of our time, we have more to get. That is what this secular author is saying. Yet it makes all the biblical sense in the world. It is all about serving and helping people and somehow when that happens you have more time to spend. God has wired us this way and when we get buried in our own agenda, we are missing out on what he wants best for us.
I have to be reminded that I need to make time to be with and serve others. If that happens, I believe the refreshment that comes from that will make me a better, more well rounded person. Maybe even my work will get done regardless.
So Dan - can you come give me a hand?? LOL, just kidding! This is a great blog and very true. I've experienced it both ways - having a balance and getting back out of balance. I find that I should always be asking myself whether what I have planned is REALLY important, or whether some of the good stuff can be set aside in order to do some great stuff.
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