Last week...

... I decided to play hooky for a couple days and take Thursday and Friday off (and I had already planned to not preach on the Sunday). I had been noticing some signs of weariness lately, and I thought it'd be a good idea to get a rest. Obviously we all experience weariness, but this was one of those times when I felt that I needed to step back, slow down and get perspective. One of the things that I'm trying to be more sensitive to in my life is indicators that I'm not in a healthy rhythm (my friend calls them 'tells'). So for instance, getting impatient with Taylor and Matthew is a 'tell' for me that I'm not managing my energy or stress well - because when I'm healthy I don't respond in anger to them. Another 'tell' for me that something is wrong is when I frequently close my office door during the day - it's an indicator that I'm weary of interacting with people and need alone time. I could go on and list other 'tells', but you get the point. I think as leaders we all need to be able to identify our 'tells' that we're out of rhythm or not managing stress and weariness well. And if you don't know what your 'tells' are, ask the people close to you - they'll be glad to let you know! We all need to be conscious of our tells, and then what we need to do to restore ourselves.