Skip to main content

Today's Battle



Today is one of those days I feel myself struggling against the voices. It’s not like I’m Ray Kinsella listening to voices from his cornfield though. In fact, these aren’t external voices telling me to do something irrational like build a baseball field. No, these voices are the ones inside my own head, and they are quite rational, making them even more reasonable and convincing. And thus, dangerous.

It’s the voices telling me I should relax and rest. They’re asking me to stand down; to pace myself and not push as hard. They’re saying I’ve fulfilled my quota. That I’ve done enough. They’re compelling me to stay inside the wire where it’s calm. They’re reminding me I don’t need to grind anymore; my family is taken care of and I’m comfortable. They won’t say it so bluntly, but what the voices are asking for is complacency.

Although it feels more of a battle today than usual, I am reminding myself I am here to fulfill a calling, not a quota. I may be comfortable, but there are others out there who are struggling and need what I can provide. If I don’t provide that encouragement and guidance, who will? Doing just enough is never enough.

No, it’s not that I have a savior complex. It’s not arrogance. It’s not even self-importance, just the realization I have been given a gift, not to selfishly hold onto it inside a comfort zone, but to share with the world around me. Although it’s different for each one of us, we all have a gift designed to be shared, not for our well-being, but for the people it touches.

So, for me, it’s one more phone call. One more email. Initiating one more conversation to encourage someone else and bring joy into their day, or at least take away some of their burden. It’s resisting the urge to stop when I have found comfort and instead, going forward until I’ve aided others in finding it themselves. That’s my battle today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on
Post a Comment
Read more

Primed for Progress

Just as some pumps need to be primed to work effectively, our lives need to be “primed” to flow efficiently. Good mornings and productive days don’t happen by accident, and by “priming” your day, you can set yourself up for better results. Does it mean you won’t have bad days? Of course not, but it’s making your day happen instead of just waiting for what happens. Once again, it’s a choice of being proactive rather than reactive. You will still have challenges and difficulties, but how you face those hurdles and respond to the struggles will be different with a primed mindset. I am sure there are many ways to prime your day and set the tone for the hours ahead, and what works for one won’t necessarily work for all. However, the process of creating a plan or a model of how things should unfold is a great place for anyone to start. Also, as I have mentioned before, how you actually start the morning is critical - the battle with the alarm clock is your first chance at victory for
Post a Comment
Read more

Flower Among Thorns

About six or seven years ago, my wife was around three months pregnant as we eagerly anticipated the birth of another child. One night, as I lay sleeping, I had a dream that our baby was born. It was a beautiful little girl with thin, wispy hair and large, bright eyes punctuating her beautiful face. I held her proudly in my arms and stared down at this precious little creation. I carefully handed her off to her older brother, who was just a toddler himself, as he sat on the coach, arms outstretched, anxiously awaiting the chance to hold his baby sister. I helped him prop up a pillow underneath his little arms to help support my daughter and then stepped back to take in the amazing sight as he gazed down at her with both pride and amazement in his eyes. As I stood there watching them, the dream quickly faded. When I woke up, my eyes met the tearful glance of my wife. “I’m bleeding,” she said as she fought back the emotions, “I think I am miscarrying.” Those words sunk deeply i
1 comment
Read more