Have you ever run out of gas while driving? Have you ever been stranded on the side of the road? So many times in my life I will drive my car until the low gas light pops on in my car letting me know I just have a few more miles to go before I will be stranded/stuck on the side of the road unable to go anywhere. I envision this being one of the most humbling and embarrassing moments. I'd hate to be on the side of the highway out of gas and then having to walk to the gas station to overpay for a little red one gallon gas container and then walking back. Even though I envision this being so embarrassing I still seem to drive my car until that gas light pops on. At that point I will then make my way to the gas station.
I was thinking about how silly that is that I operate my life like this. Why can't I make myself go get gas when there is a half a tank or even a quarter a tank left? Why would I even risk the chance of running low. If I let my gas tank run low and then I have to make a trip that is outside of any close gas stations where I could refill, I would be in a lot of trouble. If there was an emergency situation that I had to get to and I didn't have time to stop, I'd be in trouble. If there was a meeting that I needed to get to and I was already running late, I'd be in trouble. I'd be putting myself in a really tricky situation and I'm not helping myself out at all.
Sometimes I tend to live my life the same way I do as driving my car until the empty gas light pops on. I go as hard as I can until I need a vacation to refill. This has been an interesting year trying to find rest as I feel like there have been so many unknowns to lead through and I just haven't done a good job about taking time off. This week I'm on vacation. I'm thankful for that, but our vacation looks a lot different than what I intended. Kara and I flew to Florida for our vacation just a few days ago, but because of some unforeseen circumstances we had to fly back the next morning. No more vacation on the beach. No more time away from home getting to rest and refuel. This might not be such a big deal if I had rested and refueled when my tank was half or even a quarter full. What in the world was I thinking?
My question for myself and for you is are you taking time to refuel yourself before you get to the empty mark? What happens if you live your life like this and you don't have the energy, you don't have the resources, you don't have the time, you don't have the capacity when the unknowns, the emergencies, or the surprises pop up? What do you need to do to make sure you are getting enough sleep, you have enough money saved up, you have vacation on the calendar, or you have spent time with your family?
I'm going to begin assessing all areas in my life and make sure I am living off of margin and not just running my tank low every time. Will you join me?
