“Practice what you preach” is an old adage that applies to leaders more than anyone. A leader’s credibility is always on the line and on display. So before the snow and cold comes, I am going to practice what I preach and head for Maine. Why? I need to escape for a while. The following excerpt about escape is from my book, 16 Stones.
ESCAPE: I have found, at least for me, fully restorative rest only comes with escape. My body, soul, and spirit all need occasional escape from the everyday world. For years my escape has been either the North Georgia mountains or the coast of Downeast Maine—a week of nothing but coffee, a good book or two, eating catfish or lobster, and listening to the creek or watching the waves. There is no doubt in my mind that without escape, the stress of running a midsize company or later serving a large church would have produced what Bill Hybels calls “many broken pieces rattling around inside me.” For Hybels, escape is on his sailboat. He says in Courageous Leadership, “I shudder to think where I’d be today had I not given myself permission to take up boating again.”
One mistake we make is equating different with escape. Let me clarify: taking your office to a different place is not escape. An open briefcase and ringing Blackberry at the beach is different, but it is not escape. Senior pastor, you can round up a couple of pastor buddies, play eighteen holes and then have dinner, all the while talking about your church problems. That is different, but it’s not escape. Business leader, you can take your team to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit (which I highly recommend) to be inspired and challenged. That is different and worthwhile, but it is not escape. Escape is leaving it all behind, emptying your mind of your ordinary work as Exodus 20:9 calls it, and letting God repair and refresh you from head to foot. In my own experience, I have found that I can get physical rest in a couple of days; however, mental and emotional rest usually takes a week or more.
You need to escape, but who you escape with is also important. My wife, Dottie, is wired much like I am. She doesn’t need to be entertained; she doesn’t have to be sightseeing all the time; she doesn’t need to be talking all the time; a day of nothing but sitting on the porch with a good book or working a puzzle is fine with her. She is a great escape partner. Once a year, I spend a couple of days alone, intensely seeking God, but most of the time I escape with her. My point is, choose your escape partner carefully. Remember, the purpose of escape is to detox from the stresses of your ordinary life, not just drag them to a different place.
You can order 16 Stones at 16stonesbook.com or online at Amazon, B&N, etc.
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company.
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I needed to read this!
We all need to detox every now and then. The only way I know to do it is to escape from ordinary life.