Promise me that you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim.
T.K. Gregson
I’m five days into this whole writing every day in February thing but it feels like 15.
Did you know, it’s only Wednesday?
Last night, there was a big blow up at my house. Everyone in our house fights on occasion, I think it’s ultimately a good thing because you know what people are thinking/feeling, but yesterday was a particular doozy.
Compounded by all the usual things: too much work, widespread exhaustion, a dog that just ate a brand new pair of pricey kid shoes, kids unraveling because they’d been good at school all day, people not feeling supported or heard, and general disobedience and lack of grace.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot this morning. A morning I got to kick off with prayer and a good friend, a precious rarity.
How do we go from largely keeping it all together to a complete and utter meltdown in seconds?
Then, I read that quote by Gregson.
I have forgotten how much I love to swim.
I am an optimist. If I meet you, I will believe you are intrinsically good. (My mind can be changed, but that’s where I start.) I love to laugh and sing and dance and ride rollercoasters.
Lately, I haven’t done a lot of that. Honestly, I’ve been barely keeping my head above water.
This is a change season. A shifting (and sifting) season.
So maybe, because everything feels just right there on the surface, my joy has lost of some of its luster.
Ironically, in the middle of this treading water instead of remember my love of swimming, I’m speaking a fair amount. Four speeches in two months and two just this week.
I spoke for the Society of Petroleum Engineers last Friday, and I’m doing a workshop this Friday for my favorite leadership academy. As I’ve been digging into new material, I’ve been looking at some of the folks I’ll be speaking to which, crazily enough, led me to this quote.
I’ve been researching how people work and lead meaningfully. How they work more intentionally and daily live into their values. A lot of the learnings have been inspirational, and yet I found myself losing my head last night. Treading water. Forgetting about my true loves.
It’s an iterative process this whole doing life thing.
And you can take gigantic steps backwards just when you’re making progress.
I don’t have any words of wisdom on how not to make all those missteps. I’ll just remind you we’re in it together. And despite appearances, no one is doing it perfectly.
And finally, most importantly, remember your love for swimming. Do whatever you need to do to move out of a constant “treading water” cycle and into doing what you love, more times than not.
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