Running on empty...

Maybe you're one of those people who fills your gas tank when you get down to 1/4 of a tank. I'm not. The little red light always comes on in my car before I even begin to think about getting a full tank. That means I've run out of gas a couple of times in the course of a lifetime. Not a pleasant experience, but a reality of running on empty.

We're led to believe that we can run on empty in our lives, too. Why not say yes to another committee, to another job, to taking care of your neighbor's kids for a few hours, to running the fund-raiser someone has to run? Why not? Or maybe: why?

The truth is, none of us is able to run on empty. We may think we have an endless supply of energy, of time, of ideas, of motivation. But without sustinance, we're still going to be running on empty.

The image of each of us as a beautiful pitcher has long been an image I like to hold in my mind. Picture it for yourself. When the pitcher is full, the water overflows. When the pitcher is empty, the bottom gets dry, and there's nothing to pour. We are like that beautiful pitcher. When the pitcher is full, we have something to give, to ourselves and to others. When the pitcher is empty, when the bottom is dry, we have nothing to give. We have to learn the difference, each one of us for ourselves. We have to learn to guage - like the guage in my car - when the pitcher is beginning to run dry. We have to learn to fill the pitcher before it runs dry.

You can fill your mind with many things, but that's not the water for the pitcher. You can run 10 miles a day, but that's not water for the pitcher. You can go to lots of classes, and you can always find the right answer, but that's not water for the pitcher.

Water for the beautiful pitcher is water that really nourishes you. Like a nice soak in a bubble bath, your favorite music on in the house. Or a long walk with no destination. Or reading - for the 100th time - your favorite poem. Or spending an afternoon doing nothing - or simply poking around, doing things but accomplishing nothing. Or singing your favorite songs to yourself. Or praying. Or sitting, looking at the trees outside your window.

We are led to believe that we can run on empty. But we are human, after all. We are beautiful pitchers that need to be filled, over and over again, with beauty.
Warmly,
meb