Adrenaline: the friend Adrenaline is a hormone that our body produces in response to stress. In a moment of danger, it kicks in to help us navigate to a place of safety. In this way it is a very helpful friend. Yesterday, I saw my cat playing with a meter (three foot) brown snake—one of the most poisonous types in …
What are the margins that you are happy to live with? Margins are buffers we build to resource our life journey. They act like a shock absorber when you hit one of the bumps in life. Can you absorb the bumps? I used to live with low margins of time and money. The pressure of life and busyness I placed …
3 secrets of buoyancy (I used to hate Mondays)—Reflect, Refocus, Replenish, So Mondays have become one of the best days of my week. I look forward to Mondays like I look forward to a great meal with great friends. I know my tank will be filling. Who fills your tank During the process of recovery from burnout, I was asked, …
After time spend in reflection—how am I doing (well-being) and how well did I do what I did?—I feel good as I know that I am valuing who I am and positioning myself to have fuel to fulfil my purpose. The next thing to do is to refocus. Refocusing is clarifying my purpose and gaining clarity on what are the …
I used to hate Mondays. On Mondays three things I actively do to help me re-charge: Mondays for me is the day after my biggest day of work. If the Sunday service was great, I would crash after the adrenalin high. But if Sunday was not to my hopes, then on Monday I would feel low and depressed. Things are …
SUCCESS and COMPARISION The demands of ministry are great. When the expectation of performance is constantly beyond our capacity, a feeling of failure grows. We start telling ourselves “I should be doing better”. Sometimes, it’s imposed by the expectations of others. Sometimes, it’s our cultural expectations of success. In this information age, we have great access to what and how others …
Present but not really I am blessed to be part of one of the most connected movements. Deep in our culture is the core value of connection. But in my emotional sickness, while visibly present, I was not transparent or vulnerable. The words coming from my lips indicated that things were good all the time. But in reality, they were …
How is the health of your key relationships? The level of our Well-Being is reflected in the health of our key relationships. Relationships are not a means to an end but are a source of life and vitality. We need deep connections to flourish. This is true for home and work life. “Cultivating key relationships where true, two-way intimacy occurs, …
Learning to fill the tank My journey through burnout and recovery has remade me. I used to just go, run fast, and pay little or no attention to how I was doing. To recover from burnout, I had to learn to rest. For some reason, cultural—the pioneer spirit, a warped Christian perspective of self-emptying, or just plain low self-value, I …
In my late teens, burnout described an adrenaline-fueled moment in a car. You floored the accelerator, redlined the motor, dropped the clutch, the wheels would spin, scream and smoke. The vehicle would have no momentum. Eventually though, the tires would grab and the vehicle launch forward. Often the vehicle was then out of control. This was dangerous driving. Burnout …
