This blog has the theme “Climbing Mountains”. It’s about the pursuit of the “Summit”, both literally and metaphorically speaking; it’s about setting the course for the extraordinary, the improbable, the unlikely…and what some might say when offering unsolicited feedback…the impossible; it’s about becoming as prepared as possible for the challenges that will come along the way; it’s about distancing ourselves from Doubts and Doubters as we set off from the trailhead; it’s about carrying an image of the “Summit” in our mind so we can effectively fight through the thoughts of turning back, because those thoughts will assuredly dance through our mind along the trail at times when we are tired and weak. We must take advantage of opportunities to step off the trail at overlooks and soak in the present accomplishments without becoming overly satisfied. Although we continually look forward, we must take moments to glance back and appreciate how far we have come. It could be easy to fall into a trap of focusing on what we have not done and overlook or minimize what we have done.
We must stay hydrated; we must continue to give our body fuel for the work we will be demanding of it, and that is where this post is coming from today.
CHANGE AGENT! BE MINDFUL – PAY ATTENTION
If you are willing to accept this, I am now talking to you (as well as to me) …the Change-Agents out there.
The buzzword is “self-care”. I see the emails weekly coming from our management team at Probation. I hate using trendy words and phrases because sometimes they become overused and watered down… but it really is about paying attention to what our body needs. I’ve heard over the years when hiking in the mountains, that if you wait until you are thirsty to drink water, your body has already entered dehydration. This means that we should drink before we are thirsty; we should eat before we are hungry; we should rest before we are exhausted. Okay, that makes sense on the trail, but what about in our career, our day jobs. How does this fundamental apply to me (to you) in our office?
BURNED OUT
So here is where I get transparent and say I suck at “self-care”. I take my work home with me… I think about my clients when I’m sitting on my front porch drinking coffee… the issues of addiction and other life struggles don’t get turned off on my 25-minute drive home at night. In fact, I’m enjoying a day off work, and I’m thinking about “addiction” right now… and with it, comes thoughts of certain clients. When it comes to my relationship with “Addiction”, the Willie Nelson song, “Always on My Mind” is very appropriate. I’d love to say I figured things out…but I think this journey will be a lifetime thing for me.
Probation is not my passion, but helping people get to a better spot in life is. It just so happens I cross paths in Probation with a lot of injured people who are living far below what is offered in this life. When your passion is somehow connected with your career… how do you separate from it? How do you turn off and recharge?
For me, it’s being around other “Climbers”. Their stories motivate me, inspire me…remind me I’m not the only one out here on this mountain today.
Several weeks ago, on our drive home from Arizona, we stopped for gas in a little town called Winona just east of Flagstaff. I end up talking to the chatty clerk for what ended up being a handful of minutes about his art and his desire to do more than be a clerk at a convenience store. He talked about going to Phoenix and chasing a dream… I wanted to pull up a chair and hear more about his vision, I needed to feel his heartbeat in those moments…but the sound of the horn blowing outside interrupted my thoughts.
Oh yeah…my wife is out in the car waiting for me…it was her turn to drive, and she was ready to get her turbo on.
I said earlier that I am writing on a day off. Full disclosure, this is day 4 of a 3-day weekend. I was running on fumes as I pulled into the weekend on Friday afternoon, and honestly, even the thought today of engaging with people about their crisis situations leads to feelings of exhaustion for me. Many of the people I interact with daily have little insight into their problems. Sure, they think their legal issues are a problem…they think their financial issues are a problem…they may think their relationships are a problem…they may even think their drinking and drugging issues are a problem…but they have little insight into how many, if not all these things are interconnected. And in many cases, trauma events have played a significant role in where they are today. But getting to the trauma??? Forget it! We can only do so much in an office appointment and so many of my clients have no desire to go anywhere near some of the issues they desperately need to face.
NON-SUFFICIENT FUNDS
My point to all this is that like a bank account, if people are continually making withdrawals, at some point in time, the account has a zero-balance…or it may even be in the negative. If you are a Change-Agent, hopefully you are finding opportunities for large deposits being made into your account. However, if you aren’t finding those relationships…those people chasing dreams up the mountainside with you, people who are investing in your life…you may want to take a look at your account balance. You may even need to determine what a meaningful deposit would be, and how you would have that placed into your life-account.
Sadly, I paid no attention to my balance. I waited until I was too thirsty to drink, I waited until I was too hungry to eat…and today, I have to admit, I’ve waited until I was exhausted before I rested. Not trying to whine here…just making an honest assessment of how I got to this place.
I know what I need to do. I need to connect with other “Climbers”. I need to hear their stories; experience the joy of their victories; I need to be inspired by you…because a day off work isn’t going to recharge my battery. My desire is to inspire and motivate others to become the best version of themselves…but today, I must admit, I need help from other “Climbers”; I need to be challenged, inspired, and motivated to become the best version of myself.
Ultimately, I want to be out there running up that mountain…but right now, I need to refuel…I need to be recharged…I need to hear stories and be inspired by others.
REMEMBERING DELICATE ARCH
I was about ready to close this post when I remembered an observation I made while hiking to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park a few weeks ago.
It was a relatively hot day in Moab, temperatures in the 90’s. It was just after lunch so the trail was not as crowded as other times during the day. The afternoon sun can heat up that red sandstone rock making 90 degrees temperatures feel much hotter at ground-level. As we climbed, my wife and I would pass others coming back down from the top. As we got nearer to the destination, I noticed people passing us would make encouraging remarks to us… “You’re almost there!”; “It’ll be worth it once you get there!”; “Keep going, not much further now!”
My AllTrails app showed me we were getting closer, but it was nice to hear others along the trail encouraging and rooting us on. If there are any of you out there who I have crossed paths with on the uphill climb…thank you! I appreciate your supportive words.
But that memory just found it’s way back into my conscious mind. I’m somewhere along the way making my way upward. I hate to act needy hear, but if you’re one who’s on your way back down from the Summit, your encouragement to me and to others who you may pass along the way is not an insignificant gesture…your encouragement is appreciated. I’ll get there…and so will others who you pass…but making deposits into others lives as they climb will not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Be a depositor! It comes with interest.