Adrenaline Addiction - Part 2

#2: Progress can become a Mistress.

If we're not careful, those of us who lead churches or other organizations can allow the Adrenaline that comes from progress to actually begin to steal our heart's loyalty from those who deserve it most.

1. Our Spouse. If you've ever seen the movie Fever Pitch with Drew Berrymore and Jimmy Fallon than you may remember this great line in there where Berrymore's character looks at Fallon's character, Ben, who is in love with the Red Sox and says something to the effect of, "What have the Red Sox ever done for you? They can't love you back, Ben!" As a Red Sox fan, that was hard for me to hear, but as a leader, that can be true as well! If we're not careful we can get tricked into thinking that our organizations "love us back."

Question: Who are you happier to see each day, your spouse or your parking space in front of your office?

2. Our kids. The mistress of progress can steal our attention away from our kids. For me it's a question of "Best Energy." Who gets my Best Energy today... my work, or my kids? It's my responsibility as a leader and a dad to make sure that I leave some gas in the tank for my kids when I get home each night. Here's the reality: If I don't monitor this, no one else will. Our kids don't know how to tell us, "Dad, you're not leaving enough emotional energy for us." We'll only find out, after it's too late.

3. Our life outside of work. The mistress of progress can rob us from a life outside of work. I went through a stretch for several months last year where I actually prayed everyday that God would give me a hobby. I needed something to give my attention to that didn't look anything like my life at work. I saw myself getting "sucked into" the adrenaline addiction of whatever I was doing at work. Thankfully, God answered my prayer in January and gave me a great hobby that is inexpensive and I love to do with my kids!

We can't let Progress at work become a mistress for us,

Just a bloggish thought,

Matt

A Lesson in Margin from my 2 Boys!

This morning on the way to school, I had the opportunity to teach my 7 year old and 4 year old about Margin. I was attempting to help them understand why we want our mornings to be Peaceful and not Stressful. Here's a synopsis.

• We live crazy lives. Which is okay, in fact we prefer it this way, most of the time. Once we get to school, or work, our life is full of details, homework, friends, teachers, lessons, responsibilities, etc.


• We want our mornings to be peaceful. The more relaxed our mornings can be, the better we'll be for the rest of the day.


• The way to have peace is through Margin. Put another way, Peace lives in the Margins of our lives. Show me someone with no peace, & I'll show you someone with no margin. No peace in your finances? I bet you don't have margin. No peace in your calendar? I bet you don't have margin. No peace in your personal life? I bet you don't have margin.


• Margin is the distance between where you live and your limits. Foolish is the person who resides on the side of a cliff. We wouldn't think to build a home within 6 inches of a cliff, but we do it all the time in other areas of our lives.


• Margin is everywhere. I pointed out to the boys that roads are built with margin. Books have margin. Papers have margin. 7-Eleven signs have margin. It's everywhere.  And it was God's idea. My 4 year old asked me if trees have margin.  I said, "yep, it's called bark.  Without, the wood is exposed to the elements and the tree won't survive."


• Blessing live in the margins. We got to school 10 minutes early and rather than drop them off in the car line, I walked them in. I told them, "because we have margin in our time today, daddy got to walk you in." Then my 7 year old asked me, "Can we stop at the drinking fountain before class?" I answered yes. Then he said to me, "Because we have Margin, right?"

I just smiled.

Want to live a blessed life?

Want to have peace?

Examine your margins. That's where they live.

Just a bloggish thought,

Matt Keller