I took vacation! Yes a much needed 3 week break. I took time away from the hectic pace of the world to replenish myself. You see I have huge dreams and the chase to achieve them can sometimes be overwhelming. The vision pulls me and many nights are spent planning, preparing, organizing and working diligently to ensure that my dreams are achieved. As you can imagine, this can take a toll on my physical, emotional and mental state. Due to this very fact I plan a 3 consecutive week vacation every year. Eleanor Brown states that “Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” I can attest to the truth of this statement as I am sure many of you can. How many of you have been overwhelmed by the demands of your careers, felt overworked and/or underappreciated, felt stressed to the point where you snap at your children and loved ones? It happens to the best of us and the remedy is to schedule time to take care of you.
Now, back to my statement about having big dreams to achieve; you see, I am a world changer. I was chosen by a force greater than me to positively impact young lives. You see, quite frankly I have no choice in the matter. Well I do. I can live a fulfilled and satisfied life while achieving my purpose or I can do nothing and so for me the choice is clear, embrace my gifts and talents and be the world changer I am destined to be. This is no easy feat as we live in a world where it seems the youth have lost their way, where there are very few role models or very few people interested in helping to make a difference. The Transition Mentoring Team and I have worked nonstop for the past few months to develop a program that will create positive change in youth of our nation and in the future , young people all over the world. The months of my overactive brain churning at all ridiculous hours of the night, the meetings, activities and planning started to burn at me and I knew that in order to continue the dream chase I needed to rest, replenish and refocus and so I did.
Here are 3 things that happened while on vacation:
- My faith in my team increased. The Transitions team continued working the dream. In my absence, the dream stayed alive and continued to be the focus of the team. Events were planned, marketing was increased, and fundraising efforts were planned. As a result, my confidence in Transition Mentoring Program outliving me tremendously increased.
- My thoughts were clearer. During the 3 week break I was able to effortlessly visualize the future of the Transition Mentoring Program. I was able to connect on a much deeper level with the source of my strength and by doing so I was able to clearly see what steps are needed to continue to develop this program.
- I recognized my weaknesses. While I was able to reflect and assess on the areas of my life that needed strengthening, one area in particular was highlighted. You see in my disobedience and my reluctance to recognize what was sent to distract me from my purpose, I experienced deep pain; pain so deep that it cut at my soul and made me feel empty inside. I am a proponent of identifying and accepting things for what they are and do my very best to always accept what I see but in this instance, I chose to find excuses and reasons why this was the exception. In the end though, I am paying for this costly mistake but I recognize it for what it is. It’s amazing that when you set about achieving what God has directed you to do to positively change the world around you, the enemy finds a way to get you distracted from achieving that purpose but as a result of taking time away from the hectic pace of life, I was able to clearly stare at the plan of the enemy and accept it for what it is.
Now that I am replenished and refocused , I am more determined to achieve my life’s purpose. As leaders, it’s so easy to get caught up in the various demands of life but it is extremely important to have some down time to take care of you. As I conclude today’s blog, I do so feeling refreshed and reconnected. I also have a tremendous pain gnawing at my heart due to making the decision to release the distraction pulling me away from my dreams and purposed to destroy me. I boldly declare though that God’s purpose for my life will be achieved and my faith in Him is unshakeable.
Tip of the week: “When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” If your life purpose is to serve others, I encourage you to replenish yourself consistently to ensure you are able to continue giving of yourself.
