Tag Archives: reflect

Reflections

Wow…the week is done? Just yesterday was Monday. Where did it all go? What have I actually achieved? Why am I so tired?

These are the questions I found myself asking on Friday. I was so tired that by 2pm I had checked out of the office for the weekend. Once home I opted to take a nap. Mmmmhhh! Now that may not have been the greatest idea. I woke up physically rested but still mentally wound up. My mind was racing for an imaginary finish line that seemed to keep moving. I just couldn’t figure.

After much wondering I thought of a game of cricket. I must admit that the first time I watched cricket game I didn’t get it. Here is my limited interpretation of cricket. It’s either a one day or a three-day event with basically two teams most of the time; mmmh. The thing that amazed me is that they have breaks. What????  Yes, they go tea and lunch and come back to play. Most other sports have half-time that’s 15 min. these guys go and actually sit, have a meal and come back to continue the game. What????? Initially I thought it was just a mad game but over time I have come to see how gruelling it actually is. The baller and batsman work to outwit each other. One wants to hit the ball as far as possible and avoid its capture, while the other wants to ensure that his team members get hold of the same ball. The intensity and the passion of the players is amazing. They are so critically focused and are so intent. It is in my humble opinion more mental than it is physical hence more draining.

So I realised that I needed to ‘take a break from the game and have lunch’. let me explain. For those like me who are super intense and driven, you know how hard it is to just rest and be still. Being still is like pulling teeth without anaesthesia or being strapped to a gurney, blindfolded and gagged in the middle of a mall. Your senses and mind tells you that you need to continue, to be productive but your body is incapacitated and unable to do anything. We have things we do that allow us to go around the signals our body is giving and kick-start the functions again therefore reaching our goals.

I did all the things I usually do to unwind and they didn’t work …nothing!!!!! Now I was frustrated. Then I remembered a book I had bought and not yet read and it seemed to be right thing to do. It was a different genre, captivating, fast paced and a real page turner. In a couple of hours I was more than halfway through and couldn’t put the book down.

So it struck me, I have to make time to stop every so often and look back and assess what is going on around me and ask simple questions like:

  • When was the last time I took some down time?
  • What does downtime look like for me?
  • Who is important to helping me achieve down time?
  • What do I need to adjust to make life work better?

If I am honest with myself, I may not know the full answer but a conversation with Papa who knows what things need to change will give clear instructions on the way forward.

So I challenge you to stop and assess your life, some things may have been the norm for a while but are they really working for you? Are you walking along the path you need to walk? Do you have time for the things that are truly important or are you just running with the urgent? Are you able to have the kind of impact you were designed for? Are you operating inefficiently or at full and productive throttle?

Stop! Engage with Papa and redirect. Refreshing awaits you a few steps away.