With that being said....
As an update to my previous post: I have realized that there truly is a time and a season to everything in life. I know this sounds obvious and at the ripe age of 34 I should have learned this already; however, it is a very valuable lesson I have recently learned.
I loved my time serving the youth. It helped me with many things such as...
1. Getting Out of My Box: I am a very status-quo person. Hanging out with teenagers taught me that status-quo is dumb...most the time.
2. Having Fun Is Ok: I am also a very "letter of the law" kind of guy when I feel like I am in charge. For example, I feel like if something were to go wrong I would be held responsible. This often got in the way of me letting down and having fun with the boys. I'm sure being an insurance adjuster and always looking at potential liabilities didn't help placate the "risk-goblins" running around in my brain. Being around the boys helped me realize that sometimes you just have to chill and have fun.
3. Being Young is Tough: I had one youth look at me recently and tell me that adults felt the youth were naive. I looked right back at them and said "I don't feel you are naive. If anybody is naive it's the adults. We have no idea what you have to deal with on a daily basis and the ways the adversary has access to you has increased 10 fold since we were your age." And it's true! Of course, the youth are naive in ways. So are the adults. So are the old timers. Once we accept that age has little bearing on how much control we feel we have in life we can begin to accept the short-comings of others and work together to make life better all the way around.
I have also learned (or remembered) many things no longer being involved with the youth...
1. Family is #1: I got lost a bit in my service to the youth. It was SO BUSY all the time. I enjoyed it most the time but I didn't realize how much time I was robbing from my family. In the last several weeks my relationship with my kiddos has improved greatly and I am actually having fun with my wife again! Before, even if I was present physically I wasn't present mentally. My bad...
2. It's OK to Miss Things: Of course I miss being involved with the youth and I miss having that relationship with them; however, I have passed the torch and in the spirit of being selfless, I strongly believe the youth got all they were going to get from me. By the end, I was going through the motions on auto-pilot. It was time for new leadership with a fresh perspective and new tactics to keep them engaged.
3. My Wife Rocks: Of course I ALWAYS knew this one. Since being released, my wife has gotten a new calling that takes her away from home once or twice a week in the evenings. What she is doing is extremely important and it has given me a minor glimpse in to what she dealt with while I was gone consistently for the last 10 years. I don't know how anybody can say women are not as strong as men. She is my rock/anchor/Incredible Hulk that swoops in and saves my sorry butt every dang time.
Another added bonus that I'm enjoying greatly in having more time is I'm able to ponder and think about topics for myself vs. having topics/ideas fed to me and needing to move on to the next thing before appreciating the depth of what was happening around me. I am sure this is why I've started writing this blog again. I'm not sure if anybody reads this but for me, it's helpful to get these things out so I can more fully develop them.
No comments:
Post a Comment