When spinning so many plates as a husband, business man, a pastor (not the pastor, BTW), and handling all the curve balls of life, you sometimes come crashing down to the ground. I’m sure you’ve been there too – am I right?
When you’re living on the ground, you can’t see the wood for the trees. This is the place of straws that break the camels back, the little things that make you snap. You are so focussed on the next hour of your life that you loose balance, becoming obsessed about the tiniest things that have flared up emotionally into massive issues. That’s why David Allen in Getting Things Done talks of getting off the runway to the 10,000, 20, 30, 40 and 50,000 feet levels.
When I take my head out of the sand and begin to soar with the eagles a bit, I get perspective. I see beyond the temporary. I see beyond the current hour, and see its place in relation to coming days, weeks, months and even years. I even see the current hour’s place in relation to eternity. But taking off from the ground often requires help. You need other people to fly with you, who’ll help you fly and get perspective when you don’t have the energy too yourself. These close friends, mentors, and teachers are people who have perspective themselves and are wise, hence their voice carries weight when they speak into your life, as well as a current of air that can lift you up. As the Proverb says, “He who walks with the wise will grow wise.”
When your head is down, these people not only help you lift it up, but they remind you that the journey is the adventure – so soak up every moment of it, rather than wasting away looking to a distant ‘someday’.
My best bit of advice for getting perspective? One of my favourite preachers, T.D. Jakes said “if you have a problem that can be solved by money or a holiday, then you don’t have a problem.” How about that for perspective?
Image courtesy of extranoise
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